


The Creepypastas and the Seven

by pastistoday



Series: Nico and the Creepapastas [3]
Category: Creepypasta - Fandom, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Slender Man Mythos, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Crossover Pairings, Multi, Nico and the Creepypastas, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-04-13 05:04:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 69,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4508880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastistoday/pseuds/pastistoday
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico has been forced to leave Toby and the rest of the creepypastas to go to Tartarus and back looking for the doors of death and failed. Now he can't go back to them because the Seven need his help on their quest but that won't stop a few of the creeps from coming a long to help the best they can too. (sequel to Nico and the Creepypastas)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Two things besides the usual I own nothing!
> 
> 1\. I have had to shuffle around the time line of the original Heroes of Olympus books just a little to accommodate the way I want to write. I'll do my best to talk about it in the story for anyone who doesn't read this but in essence I have shortened the amount of time Percy spends at the Wolf House so that Nico's meeting with him at camp Jupiter happens earlier leaving Nico in Tartarus longer.
> 
> 2\. Thank you for sticking with me through the hiatus and I'm sorry that the first two chapters of The Creepypastas and the Seven aren't very interesting and mostly just show Nico's perspective on things that actually happen in House of Hades. Don't worry it get's very interesting in chapter three and stays that way. :) I can't wait to keep writing these characters for y'all.

Nico looked around the table at the five other demigods, twisting the ring on his finger absently. It had been a gift from his father to help channel his power, but right now he was using it as a stress reliever. He didn’t like how things were going at all. It was looking more and more like they would have to pass through the House of Hades on their quest, and if they did that he would have to go with them. It wasn’t that he wasn’t grateful for them releasing him from the giants who had captured him. It was just that he had thought. The first time he heard this prophecy that he would be left out of it, but it seemed that even if he had nothing to do with a prophecy he would still be forced into some responsibility.

He knew perfectly well that he had to do this and that it was for the greater good. Despite that, he had the strong urge to leave the demigods actually given the quest to fend for themselves and go home. He missed Slenderman’s mansion, missed the dynamics and the sounds of Jeff and BEN fighting. He missed Sally and Ira, and Masky and Hoody. More than anything he missed Toby. He missed being able to curl up next to Toby in bed, missed his passionate babble about the things he was interested in, missed his wood smoke smell and generally missed everything about him.

It didn’t help that both Leo, and Percy, reminded Nico of Toby in their own different ways. It made the way both of them looked at each other rip into him even more. Leo was afraid of Nico, it was obvious in the way he flinched and started every time Nico came into a room. Percy was still angry and distrustful of Nico. The only reason that Nico hadn’t already left was his sister. If they failed they would drag her down with them, and to a lesser extent, Annabeth. He admired her for all, but he didn’t like her very much. He trusted her to know what was best and so if she believed he needed to go with them he would.

The problem is that Percy and Annabeth aren’t even here, which means the only person here who knows him, and trusts him to any extent is Hazel. And the others seem to question her judgment when it comes to him. Which he supposes is fair. He has a hard time seeing clearly when it comes to his family as well, which is why it took him so long to admit that Bianca had abandoned him. He was pulled out of his thoughts by Jason saying his name. He didn’t need to have been listening to know what he needed to communicate, they had already talked about this.

“I communed with the dead last night.” He didn't miss the shiver that went down Leo’s body but he ignored it. He doesn’t need Leo to like him, Jason seems to be the leader now and Jason understands at least. Understands that it was Nico’s responsibility to keep the camps separate, not his pleasure. Nico told them everything he knows from his time in Tartarus, and from the dead. Everything he can that would be useful to them. Or tried to, but he was cut off by an explosion on deck that sent him flying into a wall, knocking the wind, and sense out of him.

He was aware of the commotion around him, but not conscious enough to understand it until it wasover and Jason and Leo are gone. Hazel and him are alone. She was staring at him strangely as he sat up, his breath still rattling in his throat but coming more evenly now.

“Nico?” Hazel questioned hesitantly. Nico looked at her attentively waiting for her to continue. “There... there are still more worlds you aren’t’ telling us about aren’t there?” Nico hesitated thinking about his response for a long moment.

“Yes there are.” Nico relented finally. “But I can’t tell you about them for a reason. You understand that right?”

“Yes I understand, Nico.” Hazel said, if anything she just looked worried about him. “But that’s not an easy place for you to be. I mean it’s hard enough being between dead and alive and past and present, I know those two are more than enough for me. Are you okay?”

“I’m okay Hazel.” Nico said, feeling a twist of affection for his sister he gave her a quick one armed hug. “One of the other worlds I fit into much better than this one. I was doing well there before all this. I suspect I’ll go back to it once this is over, but don’t worry I’ll always be there for you. You know the Roman camp has no place for me and neither do the Greeks, really.”

She nodded but she still had a worried look about her. He appreciated her worry but he felt a bit guilty about that. 

“Please don’t worry about me, Hazel. I can look after myself and there are people in that world who will look after me as well.” He tried to reassure her.

“You really care about them, don’t you?” She asked looking at him hard with the old eyes he knew they shared.

“Yes I do.” Nico admitted. “But don’t worry I won’t let that get in the way of this quest or me helping you. We’re family after all.” Hazel nodded seeming reassured.

“I just wish I could meet them if they’re so important to you.” She said blandly.

“No, trust me, you wouldn’t get along with them. There’s a good reason that, unless the gods say otherwise, I don’t think these are worlds that should meet.” Hazel watched him carefully but that was nothing new, she had almost always looked at him like that. Like she was amazed he hadn’t broken yet, Nico shrugged and met her eyes evenly. She didn’t look away as quickly as everyone else but she still looked away first and Nico knew she wouldn’t ask again.

With that settled, Nico left the mess hall again and went back to his usual place in the look out nest of the ships recently repaired mast. Even though usually heights scared him, and he hated being close to Zeus’ domain, recently this had felt like the best place for him. The wind that whipped around him was fresh here, chasing the smell of stale air and death out of his nose, and clearing the shadows from his mind. He did his best not to think when he was up there. There was almost nothing productive to think about, and if he let his mind wander he would only start worrying about something. It might be the future, what they would do once they reached the House of Hades, if the other demigods could defeat Gaia and if Hazel would be okay, the past, reliving the time he had spent in tartarus or with the giants or the present, how Annabeth and Percy were faring. And more importantly, where Toby was and how he was doing.

He had yet to contact the creeps, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. Seeing them would only make being away from them harder and he couldn’t go back yet. He still had responsibilities to see to. Beneath him he heard Leo mention that they needed to go to Venice. Oh good Nico’s old home that he still couldn’t remember. Sometimes he went there still, wandering around trying to find something familiar. But there were only a few places that stirred feelings in him and only one of those places caused a pleasant one. The steps of some great church, he thought maybe he and Bianca used to play there but he couldn’t be sure.

The inside of the church triggered a much different feeling. One of shame and fear, though he could never seem to call up why. Muscle memory had brought him to the fifth row of seats back from the pulpit where he had sat down. Closing his eyes he saw a blurry memory and the sound of yelling, but then a group of tourists had come in and broken his concentration. With a sound like a strike his half memory had shattered and he had left quickly.

Still when they reached the city, Nico came back down. They would probably need someone who could speak the language and knew the city, at least a little. Sure enough, Leo read out the address and Nico had to translate. He didn’t miss the way Frank flinched when he realized Nico was there. He hadn’t been trying to stay unseen but apparently it had become habit. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes when Frank seemed surprised that Nico could speak Italian. Instead he gave Frank a warning look discouraging questions, he wanted to avoid speaking as much as possible because his throat still hurt.

“I’ll go with Frank.” Nico sighed, he didn’t want to but he knew he had to. There were too many angry dead in this city for Frank to go on his own and Frank made Hazel happy, so Nico needed to keep him safe if he could.

“Uh… you’re good with animals?” Frank asked Nico uncertainly. A few months ago Nico might have laughed but he didn’t feel like he would ever laugh again. Instead he forced a smile, though he knew there was no actual humor in it, and it probably looked creepier than anything. 

“Actually, most animals hate me. They can sense death. But there’s something about this city…” His eyes roamed over the rooftops. Something familiar his mind supplied, but kept to himself, instead fixing on the dead and making him frown. “Lot’s of death. Restless spirits.” He shook his head, his speech was disconnected and his mind slow. He had always felt that, even at his best he was only about eighty percent alive. Now he was pretty sure it had decreased to… maybe forty percent, being generous. Sixty percent dead, he wondered how dead he would have to be before something actually came of it. “If I go, I may be able to keep them at bay. Besides, as you notice, I speak Italian.”

“Lot’s of death huh?” Nico heard Leo say from behind him “I try to avoid lots of death, you guys have fun.” That would be why you avoid me I guess. Nico thought to himself with another dry smile. He was glad when Hazel said that she would go with them. Nico couldn’t imagine anything more awkward than going somewhere alone with Frank. He stared at the water for a minute wondering what would go wrong on this mission, because, of course, something always did.

“All right, then. Let’s go get the owner of that book.” Nico left the ship, easily maintaining his blank face and pretending that he was seeing all of this for the first time.

At first everything seemed to be going fine but then the cow creatures attacked. Of course they did. Nico had been here at least five times without incident, but the second his sister and her boyfriend were with him everything went to shit. Nico was still so weak he could hardly defend himself, and when Hazel got a breath of the green gas in the face it was all he could do to dissolve the monster that had done it. Frank realized what had happened and for a second Nico was sure that Frank was going to kill him, then they were interrupted.

A man Nico didn’t recognize ushered them into the black house they had been trying to find. Well that made getting in easy. He said he could cure Hazel. He followed Frank into the house and stayed quiet until he had something useful to say. He felt stupid as hell when he realized that monster he had seen many time was one he had read about before but he explained it anyway.

And then, oh shit another person with a grudge against the children of Hades, just what they needed. The world seemed to have it in for them. Not that Nico could really blame them, after all children of Hades had a very bad track record. Still it wasn’t like he had done any of the things his sibling had and Hazel was a fantastic person. Maybe he deserved this treatment for having fallen in love with a murderer, but Hazel certainly hadn’t done anything wrong. His anger made him even more stupid than normal. He should have known not to threaten someone who could possibly be a god, but he didn’t and then he blacked out. 

When he came to again everything was over but it had obviously been one hell of an adventure considering Frank seemed to be almost a half a foot taller. Once they had found out the secret of the House of Hades they left quickly. Nico did not want to spend any more time than necessary with the person who had turned him into a corn plant and both Hazel and Frank seemed to want to get going too.

“He killed the puppies.” Nico jumped as the warbling inhuman whisper came from above them. Neither Hazel or Frank seemed to notice. They kept walking, Nico stared at the creature clinging to the wall of the grey building on one side of the square. It was the same colour of grey as the stone and seemed to blend in perfectly. Until it detached itself from the wall and fell to the ground landing catlike. It went to run after Frank but stopped when Nico spoke.

“Those weren’t puppies, you should be able to see that.” Nico said softly enough that the creature could hear, but he knew Hazel and Frank couldn’t. The creature rounded on him, stalking a circle around him appraisingly. The black half of his face blank, and the white half sporting a black grimace.

“Poisons puppies. Even better.” It growled angrily. “Who are you!?”

“The Ghost King.” Nico said standing up straighter. “Who are you.”

“Oh you’re one of us?!” The creature asked excitedly. The frown disappearing on the white half, as a white smile appeared on the black one. “I’m Kagekao.”

“If you’re one of the creeps then yes, I’m one of you. I’m fairly new but I work with Slenderman’s proxies from time to time.”

“Oh goody goody!” Kagekao warbled, bouncing on his bare toes and clapped his clawed hands his smile widening. “Is there news, are you here to play?” He reminded Nico of Sally and Laughing Jack, he had a feeling Kagekao’s games were not ones he wanted to play.

“I’m afraid I’ve been sort of… out of this world for a few months so I haven’t heard any new. I’m only here because the dark skinned girl who was with me is my half sister. She’s still human, but I care about her a lot and I’m here to protect her.” 

“Oh well you’re no fun.” Kagekao frowned. “That Asian boy is her boyfriend? I’m from Asia you know. I like girlfriends. I like killing them and blaming the boyfriends.”

“Well she’s MY sister so you had better not.” Nico said scowling and reaching carefully for his sword. Kagekao held up his hands and smiled.

“Okay, okay, Ghosty, don’t you worry! A lot of creeps have humans they want to keep!” He giggled at his rhyme and shrugged. “The doggies will come back sooner or later anyway. They’re like Jeff and Jane! You never ever manage to kill them completely, just wait for twenty four hours or so and POP they’re back!” He exclaimed and giggled excitedly. “But your humans don’t know about us right?”

“No they know nothing.” Nico said shaking his head adamantly. “My sister is a gentle spirit she wouldn’t understand or approve. It would make her afraid.” 

“I suppose you can’t make her one of us like Jeff made Jane?” Kagekao asked sliding a little closer to Nico, who didn’t back up facing him down.

“No, she would break before she changed.” Nico said. Kagekao sighed and dodged away again.

“That’s the way eh? Tooooo bad.” Kagekao said in a sing song voice.

“Nico?” He heard Hazel call from a little ways away from the two of them and looked over his shoulder towards the call.

“Your human name?” Kagekao asked and Nico nodded. “Well then I suppose I should scamper away before I scare your sister. Besides places to go people to prrrrank.” He purred and in a flash he was up the wall and scrambling over the rooftops. Nico watched him go and then jogged to catch up with Hazel and Frank. 

For the next few days everything was quiet while they were traveling. It was driving Nico even crazier than he had already been. He welcomed the monster attacks that happened now and then just for a break of the monotony on the ship. He knew for the others on board it was different but that was because they all had someone to talk to. Hazel and Frank had each other and so did Piper and Jason, Leo had his machines and Nico had no one. Hazel tried to talk to him now and then, but she had to go out of her way to do it, and if Nico approached her himself he always felt like he was interrupting something.

That was the last thing he wanted. She was adjusting to this time better than he had, finding a new life and he did not want to get in the way of that. He enjoyed seeing her happy and often watched her and Frank, or her and Leo talking from above where he couldn’t eavesdrop just to see her smiling and laughing. She rarely smiled or laughed around him because she was always to busy worrying about him to really have a good time.

More than anything he wanted to contact Toby but he hadn’t found a way yet. It was basically impossible to Iris message while moving and the ship never stayed still. He might have been able to do it below deck but since he had no room, there was nowhere he had guarantee of privacy and it seemed like the creeps and the demigods were still to be kept separated. Or at least he guessed as much by the fact that Hazel and Frank hadn’t seen Kagekao in Venice when really they should have heard him at least. 

With that resolution and lack of access to a phone or a computer, Nico was at a loss as to how to contact Toby. He might be able to send one of the dead with a message, but without Nico’s presence there was no guarantee that the spirit would be able to manifest fully enough to be seen by humans.

When Nico finally got a chance to try Iris messaging a few days later, when Hazel and Jason had gone to talk to a pirate, it didn’t work. He assumed it was just a one off sort of glitch until later when Cotch Hedge (who Nico still hadn’t gotten used to) mentioned that the reception was bad all the time that it occurred to Nico that the split personalities all of the gods were dealing with, might be affecting Iris as well. There were tons of gods and goddesses that no one had thought about but might have been affected. Suddenly Nico was very worried about Hestia. He hadn’t seen her in a long time and he didn’t know if she had a Roman form or not, was she suffering too?

He had no way to check but surely she knew that she could come to him if she needed to right? Even gods needed help sometimes and he was sure he had established himself to her as a friend, or at the very least a willing ally. But he couldn’t worry about that now, there were other things to worry about, namely finding the scepter of Diocletian.


	2. Chapter 2

He was half surprised at how willing Jason seemed to be to go alone with him to look for a ghost. That wasn’t to say that Jason had jumped at the thought, but more that Nico was surprised he was willing to go at all. Nico had felt better the moment his feet had hit solid ground. He knew that the earth was Gaia’s territory, but it was also his fathers, and so by extension his.

The air there smelled nice too, and the sun was beautiful. While Jason wasn’t looking, Nico lifted his face to the light for a minute and basked in the warm glow. For a moment he almost could have been back along the lake shore by the creepypasta mansion that had become his home as well. Then Jason nudged him, drawing him out of his happy place.

“Are you seeing this?” Jason asked softly pointing at the ice cream cart. Nico did see it, a winged man standing by the cart casually unnoticed by the mortals.

“Yeah,” Nico confirmed. “Maybe we should buy some ice cream.” It was half a joke. As if his stomach would be able to handle ice cream right now, he was still on small quantities of fruit, trying to build his system back up after so long without eating properly. “He’s not a returned spirit, or a creature of the underworld.” Nico commented once they got closer. Or a creep he added to himself silently.

“No, I doubt they would eat chocolate-covered ice cream bars.” Jason agreed. Nico wasn’t sure weather to scowl or laugh. He knew plenty of creatures of the underworld who were partial to chocolate ice cream. Hell hounds couldn’t have it of course because they were dogs, but at least one of the furies was partial to it. Nico couldn’t remember which one off the top of his head though. They were always pretending to be one of their sisters to get each other in trouble. He didn’t bother correcting Jason though.

“So what is he?” Nico asked instead. Well whatever he was he seemed to be willing to help him as he showed them, or more so Jason, who could track the winds, where Diocletian’s palace was. 

Nico stifled a yelp when Jason grabbed him. He probably would have protested farther but then Jason took off and Nico almost stopped breathing. He resisted the urge to grab Jason's arm to stop him from letting go. He did not trust Jason enough for this. As soon as they were on the ground again, Nico pushed away from Jason stepping out of arms reach scowling fiercely as he looked around them. 

“The peristyle, this is the entrance to Diocletian’s private residence.” Nico decided then turned his attention back to Jason. “And please, I don’t like being touched. Don’t ever grab me again.” He knew that there was a threat in his voice and he could tell by the way Jason tensed that he heard it.

“Uh okay. Sorry. How do you know what this place is called?” Jason asked.

“I’ve been here before.” Nico explained without looking at Jason. “With my mother and Bianca. A weekend trip from Venice. I was maybe… six.” 

“That was when… the 1930’s.”

“Thirty-eight or so.” Nico said distractedly, busy chasing the memories of his past with half his mind and looking for the winged man with the other. Why do you care? Do you see that winged guy anywhere?”

“No…I just… I can’t imagine how weird that must be, coming from another time.” Jason said. Nico was jolted back to the present by the realization that Jason was trying to understand him. Dissect him and try to understand how he felt but he couldn’t, there was no way he could.

“No, you can’t.” Nico snapped scowling at the ground. He hoped his short answer would end this train of conversation, but it seemed that Jason could be about as thick as a brick wall. He saw Jason open his mouth to respond and he cut him off. “Look… I don’t like talking about it. Honestly, I think Hazel has it worse. She remembers more about when she was young. She had to come back from the dead and adjust to the modern world.” Yes that was good redirecting the conversation away from himself. “Me…me and Bianca, we were stuck in the Lotus Hotel. Time passed so quickly. In a weird way that made it easier.” Oh that was bad, that opens him up to pity.

“Percy told me about that place. Seventy years, but it only felt like a few months.” Nico wanted to punch a wall. This was not what they were supposed to be doing. They were supposed to be finding the scepter, but no, Grace wanted to play therapist. 

“Ya. I’m sure Percy told you all about me.” Nico scoffed bitterly, he knew Percy didn’t like him. Had never liked him for that matter. Percy might say it was because of the time that Nico accidently lead Percy into a trap, but if it had been anyone else Percy would have forgiven them by now. Now Percy only used that experience to justify the same irrational distrust most animals had of Nico because he felt like death.

Nico let Jason try to puzzle that response out in silence, instead choosing to scan their surrounding area for threats. He didn’t see and monsters but expectedly there were plenty of ghosts, Roman ghosts of course. It took Nico a moment to realize they were angry. The majority of ghosts accepted him even if they were of different religions because death gave a certain… perspective. These seemed very angry and Nico couldn’t guess why, but he thought he should mention it.

“Roman dead are everywhere here… Lares. Lemures. They’re watching. They’re angry.” Now that they knew he could see them they rushed in telling him about everything that had gone wrong for everything. Everything that wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. He wished he could help them, but he was thousands of years too late to do anything.

“At us?” Jason asked.

“At everything.” Nico responded That used to be a temple to Jupiter.” Nico said pointing to the building in question. “The Christians changed it to a baptistery. The Roman ghosts don’t like that.” Of course they wouldn’t, it was disrespectful to their memories and the past. Then again the past and the present had never been good at working together. The present always threw away the past. “And over there.” Nico said pointing to another problem area identified by the dead. “That was the mausoleum of the emperor.”

“But his tomb isn’t there anymore?” Jason asked.

“Not for centuries.” Nico said, shaking his head trying to separate the mangled voices of the dead and the past from the living and the present. “When the empire collapsed, the building was turned into a Christian cathedral.” Gods, no matter where Nico went he was like a tour guide thanks to the dead who wanted to tell him about their lives in these places.

“So if Diocletian’s ghost is still around here…” Jason trailed off and Nico was grudgingly impressed by how fast Jason’s brain worked. Unlike Percy’s.

“He’s probably not happy.” Nico confirmed then something distracted Jason.

“That way.” Jason said pointing randomly. “The winged guy. Where do you think those stairs go?” It took Nico a moment to notice the stairs, they went down.

“Underground.” Nico supplied grinning darkly. “My favourite place.” As they went down Nico felt like the earth was swallowing. He could feel a difference in it, a colder feeling that must have been Gaia’s influence. Finally they reached the bottom of the stairs. He saw Jason take a note out of his pocket and slide it under a bust of some old Roman dude but he ignored it.

“Hello!” Someone called and Nico resisted the urge to laugh at the way Jason jumped and sliced a bust in half. “That wasn’t very nice.” The stranger chided. Nico turned to see it was the guy with the russet wings again. “I mean what did Diocletion ever do to you?”

“Uh.” Jason said very intelligently. “It was an accident. You startled me.”

“Jason Grace.” The god chuckled, he had to be a god. “The west wind has been called many things… warm, gentle, life-giving, and devilishly handsome.” Well he demonstrated the same level of humility as most gods. “But I have never been called startling. I leave that crass behavior to my gusty brethren in the north.” Nico had heard about the west wind, it had been one of the cards in that stupid card game he had loved as a kid.

“The west wind? You mean you're... “ He inched back as Jason interrupted him. 

“Favonius, God of the west wind.” Jason continued.

“You can call me by my Roman name certainly, or Zephyros if you're Greek. I’m not hung up about it.”

“Why aren’t your Greek and roman sides conflicted, like the other gods?” Nico asked.

“Oh I have the occasional headache. Some mornings I wake up in a Greek chiton when I swear I went to bed in my SPQR pajamas. But most of the war doesn’t bother me. I’m a minor god.” Nico tuned out the rest of what Zephyros said. Did that mean that Hestia would be okay? She was a minor god now but she hadn’t always been. Was she enough of a minor goddess now not to be affected by this and should he wish that for her? Being a minor god wasn’t exactly a peachy fate either. Jason said something else and Nico tuned back in in time for Zephyros’ answer.

“Several things!” The god said with an amount of enthusiasm Nico didn’t think was warranted. “Hanging out with my basket of fruit. I always carry a basket of fruit. Would you like a pear?” Jason declined and Nico was sure he had started fading into the background again so he didn’t bother. “Let’s see… earlier I was eating ice cream. Right now I’m tossing this quoits ring.” Nico couldn’t help but think that this guy was quite strange as he spun the bronze ring.

“I mean why did you appear to us?” Jason asked, finally he was asking the right questions. “Why did you lead us to this cellar?”

“Oh! The sarcophagus of Diocletian. This was it’s final resting place. The Christians moved it out of the mausoleum. Then some barbarians destroyed the coffin. I just wanted to show you that what you’re looking for isn’t here. My master has taken it.” He seemed genuinely sorry and sad for them.

“Your master?” Jason asked. “Please tell me your master isn’t Aeolus.” Nico didn’t know why Jason sounded so disgusted, but then again he didn’t feel like sacrificing his place as part of the background to speak.

“That airhead?” Zephyros scoffed and Nico was impressed, even as a minor god it took gall to insult a more powerful god. “No, of course not.” Nico supposed he would have to step in before Jason made an even bigger fool out of himself.

“He means Eros.” Nico informed Jason overly patiently. “Cupid in Latin.”

“Very good, Nico Di Angelo.” Zephyros said smiling approvingly. “I’m glad to see you again by the way it’s been a long time.”

“I’ve never met you.” Nico said, blunt in his confusion.

“You’ve never seen me.” The god agreed. “But I’ve been watching you. When you came here as a small boy and several times since. I knew that eventually you would return to look upon my masters face.” Nico balked. Oh no he did NOT want to meet Eros, that was the last god he had even hope to meet. He would rather the Keres ten times over than Eros. He had to resist the urge to shadow travel as far away as he could but he couldn’t help looking for an escape route even though he knew he wouldn’t take it. 

“Nico?” Jason asked curiously. “What is he talking about?” Oh no no no NO.

“I don’t know.” Nico replied sharply. “Nothing.” He knew he was being too defensive to be believable but he couldn’t, just couldn’t.

“Nothing? The one you care for most… plunged into tartarus, and still you will not allow the truth.” And suddenly Nico decided he really, really hated Eros and by extension Zephyros. He must know that Nico wasn’t in love with Percy anymore and yet he had manipulated the sentence to make it sound as if…

“We’ve only come for Diocletian’s scepter.” Nico snapped scowling. “Where is it?”

“Ah.., you thought it would be as easy as facing Diocletian’s ghost? I’m afraid not, Nico. Your trial must be more difficult.” Nico was really missing his place as part of the background now. He hated being the center of attention and the way the two of them were staring at him made him fidget. “You know, long before this was Diocletian’s palace it was the gateway to my masters court. I’ve dwelt here for eons bringing those who sought love into the presence of Cupid.” 

“Like Psyche, Cupids wife. You carried her to this palace.” Jason said. Nico was glad to have attention drawn away from him for a moment.

“Very good, Jason Grace. From this exact spot I carried Psyche on the winds and brought her to the chambers of my master. In fact, that is why Diocletian built his palace here. This place has always been graced by the gentle west wind. It is a spot of tranquility and love in this turbulent world. When Diocletian’s palace was ransacked”

“You took the scepter.” Jason filled in.

“For safekeeping.” Zephyros clarified. “It is one of Cupid's many treasures, a reminder of better times. It you want it..” and suddenly the attention was all on Nico again, Nico swore internally. “You must face the god of love.”

“Nico you can do this.” Jason assured Nico and Nico glared at him. There he went again, thinking he knew what he was talking about when he had no clue. “It might be embarrassing, but it’s for the scepter.” Nico felt like he might throw up or faint but he didn’t want to make that obvious.

“You’re right.” He said instead “I-I’m not afraid of a love god.”

“Excelent! Would you like a snack before you go?” He picked up a green apple from his basket of fruit. “Oh bluster. I keep forgetting my symbol is a basket of unripe fruit. Why doesn’t the spring wind get more credit? Summer gets all the fun.”

“That’s okay.” Nico said quickly, he just wanted to get this over with anyway. “Just take us to Cupid.” And Zephyros did by turning them both into wind, which Nico didn’t mind so much. It was much like being shadow only a bit lighter. He was not ready when they reassembled at the other end. He knew Jason and Zephyros were talking but he wasn’t listening. Instead he leaned against a pillar, he was so scared and he wasn’t even sure why.

“Hey man..?” Jason asked. Nico huffed and waved him away. No, he was the last thing Nico need right now.

“Ah…I don’t blame you for being nervous Nico Di Angelo.” Zephyros nodding sympathetically, Nico resisted swearing at him. “Do you know how I ended up serving Cupid?”

“I don’t serve anyone.” Nico growled back. He may do favors for his father and Slenderman from time to time, but he certainly didn’t serve them. “Especially not Cupid.’

“I fell in love with a mortal named Hyacinthus. He was quite extraordinary.” Zephyros continued as if Nico hadn’t spoken. Nico felt like he had been punched in the stomach at how open he was. Nico had only managed to open up to the creeps because he knew they wouldn’t judge him for going against society. After all they killed people, Nico didn’t think he would ever be able to open up to anyone outside of that world.

“He?” Jason questioned feebly. “oh…”

“Yes, Jason Grace. I fell in love with a dude. Does that shock you?” Zephyros answered and Nico felt like he was going to be sick. Of course he was, it was wrong, he had been told his entire life it was wrong.

“I guess not.” Jason said but Nico knew he was lying. “So… Cupid struck you with his arrow, and you fell in love.”

“You make it sound so simple.” The god scoffed “Alas love is never simple. You see, Apollo also liked Hyacinthus. He claimed they were just friends. I don’t know. But one day I came across them together playing a game of quitos.”

“Quitos?” Jason interrupted. 

“A game with those hoops.” Nico explained seizing on any distraction from the wall in his mind between him and his memories which seemed to be crumbling. “Like horseshoes.”

“Sort of.” Zephyros agreed. “At any rate I was jealous. Instead of confronting them and finding out the truth I shifted the wind and sent a heavy metal ring at Hyacinthus’ head and… well.” He paused and sighed heavily. “As Hyacinthus died, Apollo turned him into a flower, the hyacinth. I’m sure Apollo would have taken horrible vengeance on me, but Cupid offered me his protection. I’d done a terrible thing, but I’d been driven mad by love, so he spared me, on the condition that I work for him forever.” The name Cupid echoed around the pillars. Oh gods, he was close.

“That would be my cue.” Zephyros stood hurriedly. “Think long and hard about how you proceed, Nico Di Angelo. You cannot lie to Cupid. If you let your anger rule you… well your fate will be sadder than mine.”


	3. Reunion

_You come to claim the scepter._ The voice was almost similar to Slenderman’s, but Nico knew that wasn’t who it was. He could already tell who it was by the way they were making him feel. He wondered if Jason could feel it too, but realized he didn’t when he heard how steady his voice was. Nico wasn’t sure he would be able to speak if he tried, but still he stood at Jason's back and did his best to ignore the way his mind was falling apart.

"Cupid where are you?!” Jason shouted, sounding brave to Nico.

 _Where you least expect me. As love always is._ Nico watched helplessly as Jason went flying, leaving him alone. _I would think you’d know better Jason Grace. You’ve found true love after all. Or do you still doubt yourself?_ This God was more of a monster than any of the monsters Nico had lived with or fought. Nico ran to Jason as quickly as he could, neither of them could be alone with this god, he would tear them apart.

“You okay?” Nico asked Jason, quickly reaching out his hand to help Jason up. Jason accepted it and Nico pulled him to his feet again.

“Ya, just sucker punched.” Jason said. Nico wished he had the capacity to laugh.

 _Oh did you expect me to play fair?_ Cupid asked mockingly, Nico wanted to tear him apart now. _I'm the god of love. I’m Never fair._ Nico didn’t have time to react as the arrow materialized out of the air and raced towards him. He registered briefly that Jason deflected it for him and then they were both running up the steps. For all they knew they could be running towards the god since they couldn’t see him, but it felt better to keep moving.

Jason pulled Nico out of the way of a falling column. Twice now, at least Nico knew now that he could trust Jason in a fight.

“Is this guy love or death?” Jason growled.

 _Ask your friends. Cupid taunted. Frank, Hazel and Percy met my counterpart Thanatos. We’re not so different. Except death is sometimes kinder._ As far as Nico was concerned right now, death was ALWAYS kinder.

“We just want the scepter.” Nico yelled, his anger breaking through his fear. “We’re trying to stop Gaia. Are you on the gods’ side or not?” Another arrow came flying at Nico. He only had time to stumble back before it landed on the cobbles between his feet cracking the stone.

_Love is on every side. And no ones side. Don’t ask what love can do for you._

“Great.” Jason snapped. “Now he’s spouting greeting card messages.” Nico hardly registered the comment through his quickly mounting panic. What did cut though was when Jason attacked and some gold blood fell to the ground. Nico felt a savage pleasure at that. Good, let the god bleed.

_Very good Jason at least you can sense my presence. Even a glancing hit at true love is more than most heroes manage._

“So now can I get the scepter?” Jason asked and Nico nearly scoffed at his optimism. The Cupid was a cruel god, he’d want to play cat and mouse much longer than this before he would give them anything.

_Unfortunately you could not wield it. Only a child of the underworld can summon the dead legions. And only an officer of Rome can lead them._

“But…” Jason started to object then seemed to think better of it. “Just leave that to us, Nico can summon.” Nico didn’t know if Jason said anything else, because suddenly everything was consumed by pain. It was too sudden for him to do anything but look down in shock at the arrow protruding from his arm. The physical pain was awful but it was nothing compared to his mind.

Nico stumbled, nearly falling as suddenly a dam somewhere in his mind broke and suddenly he was flooded with memories. Memories of speeches by the Fuehrer he had heard broadcasted as a child condemning homosexuality. Talking about how they had to be removed from society.

Even then he showed signs of his sexuality. His mother and sister had been so scared, they tried not to let him know, but it showed. It showed, it showed and it scared him to. He had tried to hide but it hadn’t always worked.

“Enough games!” Nico shouted gritting his teeth and clamping down on the flow of memories he had suppressed for a reason! “Show yourself!”

 _It is a costly thing looking at the true face of love._ Was Cupid fucking monologuing? Nico tuned him out, he knew the story he didn’t need to hear it again. In his attempt to ignore Cupid he accidentally opened his mind enough for another memory assaulted. The one from the old church in Venice. His mother had gone there to pray, pray for him, pray to whatever god to fix him. He had stayed with Bianca out on the steps playing but after a while they had gotten worried and bored and gone in to Maria. They had found her crying in one of the front rows and Nico had run to her.

“What’s the matter, mama?” Nico had asked grabbing her sleeve and staring up at her worriedly.

“Don’t worry baby.” She had half sobbed half crooned, hugging him tightly and then holding him at arm's length to look at him. “Everything will be fine. You’ll grow up alright, you’ll find a nice girl to marry and everything will be fine.” Nico had been confused by this.

“But mama I don’t like girls they're weird.” Nico had answered vehemently. Maria had shaken her head desperately.

“Angel, don’t say that.” She had half begged him, it had scared him even more.

“But.”

“Don’t say that.” She shrieked and the sound of her strike shocked him out of the memory, just as it had on his first trip to the cathedral in this time. He had been born and raised in a time when being gay was punishable by a long slow death he could not, especially now tell anyone half way normal. It went against everything his mother had drilled into his head to keep him safe. But he also couldn’t ignore the fact that during his silence Cupid had turned his full torment of Jason.

“Stop that!” Nico yelped when Jason nearly got crushed by a falling wall. “It’s me you want. Leave him alone.” It was a bad idea, but Nico didn’t care. He couldn’t let anyone else get hurt because of him.

_Poor Nico Di angelo. Do you know what YOU want, much less what I want? My beloved Psyche risked everything in the name of love. It was the only way to atone for her lack of faith. And you- what have you risked in my name._

Nic wanted to shout everything! He had risked everything in the name of love for everyone he had loved! For years he had sacrificed his self expression for his mother, his happiness, and almost his free will to Minos to help Percy, and now almost his life to help Toby! He had risked his life and sanity going into Tartarus to try and find the doors of death for everyone he loved! The real question was what HADEN’T he sacrificed for love.

“I’ve been to Tartarus and back!” Nico snarled as the ground around him roiled under his anger. “You don’t scare me.”

_I scare you very much. Face me. Be honest._

“Give us Diocletian’s scepter.” Nico half yelled. He would not admit his fear. Not even to himself. “We don’t have time for your games!”

 _Games?_ Cupid question and suddenly Nico found himself flying sideways against a pillar. Unconsciously he sucked all the life of the grass around him, the death spreading out around him as he sucked all it’s energy and power into himself. _Love is no game! It is no flowery softness! It is hard work. A quest that never ends. It demands everything from you, especially the truth. Only then does it yield rewards._ ‘He’s talking as if I don’t know’ Nico thought angrily.

“I know but you are not the one I love.” Nico snapped, "I owe you nothing!"

“Nico, what does this guy want from you?!” Jason asked but Nico didn’t want to answer. Too bad Cupid did for him.

 _Tell him Nico. Tell him you are a coward, afraid of yourself and your feelings. Tell him the real reason you ran from camp Half-Blood and why you’re always alone._ Nico couldn’t speak, he was too angry instead he just screamed. Screamed and every single dead thing in the ground around them answered. Stirring and crawling and clawing their way to answer him. They rose from the ground all around him, feeding on his anger and the life he pulled from every source around them besides Jason.

 _Will you hide among the dead as you always do?_ Cupid taunted The dead and the killers. The air around Nico darkened absorbing the light and the feeding the dead even more of his emotions. He didn’t even notice when the wave hit Jason. Nico didn’t realize he was broadcasting the memories along with it, and that it was powerful enough for the living to see as well as the dead. He focused on attacking Cupid.

It only took moments for the dead to locate him as numerous as they were. Once they had they swarmed him. Grabbing at him and crawling him, trying to pin him down so they could rip him to shreds as Nico desired but it wasn’t working. No matter how many dead Nico threw at the god, he brushed them off like flies, but maybe if he was distracted enough.

_Interesting! Do you have the strength after all?_

“I left camp halfblood because of love.” Nico admitted but then tried to backtrack. “Annabeth, she.” He wasn’t ready but Cupid cut him off.

 _Still hiding._ He teased, _You do not have the strength._

“Nico it’s okay!” Nico had almost forgotten Jason was there until he spoke. “I get it.”

“No you don’t.” Nico answered miserably. “There’s no way you could understand.” Not only because Jason was straight and had a wonderful girlfriend everyone approved of, but because he had been raised in this time. Many things were more accepted now, but Nico very much doubted any of them would approve of Toby.

_And so you run away again. Form yourself, your friends._

“I don’t have friends!” Nico screamed back. “I left c amp Half-Blood because I didn’t belong! I never belong!” Not even with the creeps really, he was too gentle, still. He had finally gotten Cupid pinned down but that didn’t seem to bother Cupid at all. In fact he was laughing, in a way that made Nico want to cry.

“Leave him alone, Cupid.” Jason crocked, he sounded like maybe he was going to cry to. Nico couldn’t imagine why. “This isn’t..” But Jason didn’t finish his sentence. Still Jason's support helped.

“I-I wasn’t in love with Annabeth.” Nico managed his voice horse from yelling.

“You were jealous of her.” Jason said reassuringly. “That’s why you didn’t want to be around her. Especially why you didn’t want to be around… him. It makes perfect sense.”

“I hated myself.” Nico admitted softly. “I hated Percy.” And finally Cupid became visible. Nico didn’t even have the strength to punch him in the face. “I had a crush on Percy Jackson. That’s the truth. That’s the big secret. Happy now.” Cupid nodded and smiled.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say love always makes you happy.” Cupid answered finally using his actual voice. “But almost, Nico, there is one more thing. Now that you have come to terms with the one you used to love I’m going to reunite you with the one you currently love. He’s close and with the show you were making I’m sure he’s on his way, he knows your darkness after all. I knew I was right to show an interest in you as a child, you and he are a fine example of my kind of mad love.”

Nico was about to answer but the god was already gone. Where he had been was the scepter but it was quickly bumped out of the top spot on Nico’s priority list. He could feel a familiar soul approaching quickly. Nico snatched up the staff and ran to meet it. When he reached the top of the hill he spotted Toby at the bottom. His grey hoody showed perfectly that he was covered in blood, but Nico didn’t care.

“Toby!” He yelled surging down the hill. They collided half way down.

"Nico!” Toby exclaimed happily enfolding Nico in a tight hug, picking him up and spinning around. Nico was half laughing, half crying in relief and buried his face in Toby’s shoulder ignoring the sticky warmth he knew was fresh blood that seeped into him from Toby’s clothes.

Reaching up he pulled down Toby’s mouth guard so it rested around his throat and Toby surged in. Engulfing Nico’s mouth in a fierce kiss and stealing his breath. But suddenly Nico had little desire to breath anyway as he reacquainted himself with the feel of Toby’s warmth, the smell of his skin and the taste of his lips. It was a long minute before they separated but it felt like forever and still not long enough.

“Where have you been?” Toby asked. “Why didn’t you come home? You’ve lost weight. You look awful. When will you come home? Can it be now? It looks like you need us to look after you?” Toby paused for breath and Nico jumped in to answer.

“I’ve been in tartarus. I only got out a week and a half ago. I didn’t come home right away because the job isn’t finished yet and I’m still needed so I can’t go home with you yet. Yes I’ve lost weight, and of course I look awful tartarus is meant to be worse than hell. There aren’t exactly any fast food restaurants.” Nico answered half smiling up at Toby. Toby laughed and hugged Nico even tighter, lifting Nico’s feet just a little off the ground again.

“My god I’ve missed you Nico! Ira fell apart about a week ago. What happened? You said as long as you were alive she would stick around, we thought you were dead!”

“I was forced to enter another death sleep, so I just didn’t die permanently. You know how that works.” Nico reminded him gently.

“Oh right! Who came to get you this time?” Toby asked curiously, a flash of jealousy crossing his face, which Nico ignored.

“My half sister Hazel.” Nico said smiling gently. Toby looked confused. “I promise I’ll explain later, it’s just more world I wasn’t allowed to speak about and now I can because… oh.” Nico remembered that Jason was there and twisted to see him standing on the top of the hill looking confused. “Jason come down here please? Now that we’re getting to know each other I think there’s some things you need to know.”

“Who’s he?” Toby mumbled in Nico’s ear, his goggles thankfully hiding his hostile glare.

“He’s another demigod, he’s on the quest I’m helping. He’s a pretty nice guy though, and it seems the gods have decided it’s time to introduce two more worlds. If it goes wrong it’s Cupids fault and I hope the other gods flay him because I’ve never met a bigger dick.” Toby looked confused but instead of asking he shrugged, let go of Nico and pushed his goggles up so his entire face was visible. Jason came down cautiously and Toby did his best to smile reassuringly.

“It’s nice to meet you, Jason. I’m Toby Rogers, I go by Ticci-Toby now though because of my twitches. Don’t worry their just tourettes, nothing sinister.” Toby introduced himself as Jason came to a halt out of arms reach.

“Okay, then why are you covered in blood?” Jason asked cautiously. Toby opened his mouth to answer but Nico put a hand on his chest and Toby stopped.

“I have some other things to explain first, Grace, please be patient.” Nico said and Jason turned his attention to Nico. He was still confused but he seemed trusting and he nodded. “I know you have and the others have some trouble trusting me because I’ve existed between the Roman and Greek sides without telling either, but existing between worlds is part of my responsibility as a demigod child of Hades. All demigods exist between the realm of gods and the earth, but children of Hades also exist between life and death. Darkness and light, and the underworld and earth.

Because of this I was trusted with the knowledge of other worlds as well. Rome being one of them of course, but not the only one. It seems Cupid has decided it’s time to introduce you to another. Toby is one of the members of another set of legends, more modern ones. Urban myths and horror stories, until now the mist has separated them from you, like it did the Romans and Greeks but now obviously it isn’t.” Nico finished his explanation and Jason nodded his eyes sharp.

“How many more ‘worlds’ are there?” Jason asked professionally.

“I honestly don’t know.” Nico said shrugging. “If I did know I wouldn’t be able to tell you. The gods seem to be trying to consolidate as many as they can right now, but I swore on the River Styx I wouldn’t talk about any of them until I was sure the time was right and the mist had lifted. The gods don’t want to risk another war.”

“Well we can’t make you break an oath on the River styx.” Jason sighed then looked back to Toby. “So urban legends and horror stories. Tell me more.” Toby was opening his mouth to answer when his phone rang in his pocket.

“Shoot, sorry hang on.” Pulled it out checked the number and answered it. “Masky?”

“Toby where are you? We’ve found your kill, god dude, you're almost as sloppy as Jeff, you really need to clean up after yourself. Where’d you run off to?”

“Hey it is not my fault! I found Nico!” Toby objected.

“WHAT? Where? When were you going to tell us? Where are you we’re coming.” Toby pulled a compass out of his pocket and after a moment a flair came up.

“Perfect we’re south west of you. One of Nico’s demigod friends is here, Nico thinks it’s time that they learned about us.”

“Ugh okay I’m going to talk to Slenderman about that quickly. I doubt he’ll mind sense he’s known about the demigods for ages but he is the keeper so he should know.”

“Okay Masky, see you and Hoody soon.” Toby said and hung up the phone smiling at Jason. “That’s good, Masky is much more qualified to tell you about us than I am. I’ve only been a member for a little over a year, Masky’s been one for almost twenty years, since he was seven.” Jason nodded.

“Who is this Slenderman?” He asked.

“He’s the Keeper, one of the oldest and most powerful of us. Actually from when Nico’s told me he’s almost closer to your gods but anyway he chose us. Me, Masky, and Hoody are his proxies, vessels of his will. That’s why Masky wants to talk to Slenderman before we tell you stuff.” Jason nodded again.

Almost immediately there was a familiar burst of static, making Jason jump and Slenderman and the other proxies were suddenly there. Masky hit the ground running, charging at Nico and tackling him to the ground. Nico landed and the air left his lungs with a whoosh, he noticed Hoody stopping Jason from attacking Masky before he registered Masky’s yelling then he tuned into what Masky was saying.

“DON’T EVER DO THAT TO US AGAIN! WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD WHEN IRA FELL APART! SALLY CRIED FOR DAYS, BEN SHORTCIRCITED EVERY ELECTRONIC IN THE HOUSE SHOUTING ABOUT LOSING HIS GAMING BODY, EVEN JEFF WAS UPSET. I THOUGHT TOBY WAS GOING TO OFF HIMSELF YOU ASSHOLE! DON’T YOU EVER EVER DO THAT TO US AGAIN OR I FUCKING WILL KILL YOU! DO YOU UNDERSTAND GHOST? YOU WILL LIVE UP TO YOU’RE FUCKING NAME!”

“Okay okay Masky I get it I’m sorry.” Nico said holding his heads up in a pacifying gesture. With some difficulty since Masky was half pinning him. “You knew it was a possibility that I would die. I thought I was, it was pure luck and some help from Jason, Percy, and Piper that I did survive.” Nico gestured at Jason when he said his name. Finally Masky got off him and helped him up gruffly.

“Ya well next time take some of us with you.” Masky grumbled. “I’m sure we can help just as well as the demigods, and faster.” Masky’s voice trailed off to inaudible grumbles and he moved back to let Hoody give Nico a much more gentle greeting.

“I m-missed you t-too Nico.” Hoody whispered giving Nico a light hug before retreating quickly ducking behind Masky. Nico couldn’t miss the way Hoody’s voice shook slightly though, or the fact the Hoody reached under his mask to wipe his face.

It is good to see you alive and well, Ghost King. Slenderman greeted, his voice gentle inside Nico’s mind, he noticed that still made Jason shudder. It was difficult to see my children in a pain I could not prevent.

“I’m sorry I caused so much drama, but you all understand it couldn’t be helped don’t you? The world must be saved.”

I do understand that is was necessary Ghost King and I would like to offer my assistance. I wish for you and your companions to take one of my vassals with you. They will guarantee you the assistance of almost all of our kind you may encounter. I’m sure Toby would be happy to volunteer.

“Yes!” Toby yelped quickly grabbing Nico’s hand and looking into his eyes intently. “I never want to be separated from you like that again.”


	4. Greetings, Let us Help

“I’m not explaining that to the others.” Jason said violently and winced when that caught Slendermans full attention.

_That is alright child. I believe if I am offering my assistance I should meet the rest of your associates. Nico, will you lead the way._

“Of course I will, but first I want to establish something okay?” Slenderman inclined his head in acknowledgment. “The other members of this quest don’t know that I’m gay and I would like to keep it that way. It doesn’t matter to me what most of them think but my Roman half sister Hazel is among them. She’s from the same time period as me, roughly, and you know what the general opinion of homosexuality was then. I don’t want her to know.” Nico gave Toby an apologetic look and he nodded understandingly.

_That is alright Nico, there are plenty of reasons why it makes sense for Toby to accompany you besides your romantic entanglement._ He nodded gravely and Nico smiled gratefully before turning to glare at Jason.

“That goes for you Grace, don’t tell them! If she knew-”

“She would care about you just as much, Nico.” Jason interrupted holding up his hands. “You're her only family too, she won't leave you because of something like that.” Nico refrained from pointing out that the most damage had always been done to him by those who cared about him. Or at least, that he cared about. Instead he glared fiercely at Jason. “But I won’t tell her if you don’t want me to.” Jason added hastily.

“Good, then are you coming with me through shadow travel or teleportating along with Slenderman.” Nico asked briskly. Jason just grimaced.

“Can’t I just fly us back.” He asked hopefully.

“Oh no, I have had enough flying for a lifetime! This time we’re going my way.” Nico snapped back. The proxies were following this with bemused curiosity. Nico almost laughed when he realized that they wouldn’t even question whether Jason could fly, but were probably just wondering how when he didn’t have any wings.

“Alright.” Jason sighed. “Then I’m going with you. Slenderman, I suggest you wait a few minutes to follow us. Otherwise they’ll probably assume you're one of our monsters, and try to kill you.”

_They would not be able to harm me if they tried, but there would be little point in alarming them. Very well, we will wait, one of my proxies must go with you though so I can follow._

“I’ll go.” Masky volunteered before Toby could. “I’m less impulsive than Toby, and besides I look a bit more normal under my mask.” Easily he slipped off his mask and handed it to Hoody who shoved it in his shoulder bag.

_Good idea Masky. Toby don’t sulk we will be going along with them in short order and you’ll be the one staying._

“It’ll only be for about five minutes, Toby, honestly.” Nico said mildly exasperated as Toby proceeded to ignore Slenderman and pout at full force, giving Nico the puppy-dog eyes he always had trouble saying no to. “We’ll go now so you can come sooner.” Nico half snapped grabbing hold of Jason and Maskys wrists, pulling them back through the shadows with him.

Masky knew better than to keep his eyes open through the trip, but Jason didn’t. When their feet hit the deck of the Argo II again he fell over immediately. Nico looked down at him in amusement. Masky opened his eyes and started laughing, but not everyone was as amused.

“Jason.” Piper yelped running over to him.

“He’s fine.” Nico quickly assured when she glared up at him. “I just forgot to warn him to close his eyes when we shadow travelled. It can be a little disorientating.”

“A little is a bit of a understatement, don’t you think.” Jason grumbled, pushing himself up into a sitting position and glaring at his hand which was shaking slightly.

“Ya well, now you know how it feels to be suddenly grabbed and dragged into an element that isn’t yours!” Nico snapped.

“So that was revenge for flying with you, huh?” Jason sighed standing up slowly. “Are we even now?”

“Yep.” Nico said trying not to sound too pleased with himself.

“Who are you?” Piper asked Masky suspiciously. By now most of the rest of the crew had assembled, including Leo, who seemed to have been summoned by the thump, barreling up the stairs yelling.

“Nothing better have broken this time I just finished fixing!... Who’s that, where'd you guys come from, did you get the scepter of death thingy?”

“Yeesh I feel old.” Masky said surveying the demigods. “Ghost, you didn’t tell us the people saving the world were all about your age.”

“Not many Demigods live to be adults, I explained that already, Masky.” Nico pointed out impatiently.

“Wait, he knows about the Demigods?” Frank asked puzzled, not that that was unusual for him.

“Yes I know about demigods, though I only knew about the Greek ones until today.” Masky said surveying the group as if trying to pick out which ones were Roman. “Nico’s been living with us for almost a year when he wasn’t going to tartarus to help you people.” It was hard to miss the accusation in Masky’s voice, but he didn’t give anyone time to object. “But I’m here because it’s about time you knew about us since we’ve known about you for months.

“I am one of the few human members of another set of mythological characters. Specifically urban legends and modern horror stories. I’m here to warn you that my keeper, a being known as Slenderman, will be arriving soon to speak with you. He is one of the oldest and most powerful beings among us and is therefore the leader. He has the power to help you and he wants to help you but you need to be careful. He looks like one of your monsters and you must not attack him even though your instincts might say you should. Do you understand?” Masky finished but no one seemed to be able to answer. They were all gawking at him with mouths open. Masky and Nico groaned, now was not the time for demigods sharp reflexes to fail.

“He’s telling the truth guys.” Jason chimed in and they all looked at him in shock.  
“But Jason, why would we want help from a horror story monster?” Piper asked softly, her eyes flashing.

_Because it is strategically wise._ There was a burst of static that had everyone but Nico and Masky covering their ears and then Hoody, Toby, and Slenderman were on the deck with them. _I understand it may be against your protocol to cooperate with beings who feed on humans, I believe that is why Nico wished to keep us separated but under circumstances such as the ones you are under do you not need all the help you can get?_

Leo burst into flames almost instantly, swearing in Spanish as he patted out the fire in his hair and on his clothes. Frank edged away from Leo, but Pipers attention stayed on Slenderman her multicolored eyes calculating.

“You’re Slenderman? I believe I have heard of you.” She said, her voice soothing.

_You very well might have child. There are many legends about me._ Slenderman conceded bowing his head slightly. He helped Toby down from where he had been perched on his shoulders. _I am almost as old as your gods after all. No matter how quiet I am and how much I keep to the shadows some will notice me, or those who belong to me._ Masky crossed over to Hoody who was half hiding behind Slenderman’s legs and wrapped his arm comfortingly around Hoody’s waist.

“You say you want to help us though. If you’re against humanity why would you help us save them?” Piper said her voice layered with charm speak as ever.

_You misunderstand me child. I am in no way against humans, it is simply that humans are my food source, I could not exist without humanity. There are few of us who could so we have just as much investment in their continued existence as you._

“You want to save them so you can eat them?” Leo asked raising his eyebrows. “That’s like, super messed dude.” Toby snickered and Masky glared at him.

H _umans farm cattle do they not?_ Slenderman pointed out. _No that is not the right analogy, the correct one is rabbits. Many humans adore rabbits, keep them as pets, breed them, etcetera. But there are still many other humans who eat rabbits, farm them for food, occasionally choosing a few who they like too much to consume and decide to keep._ He gestured absently at the three proxies with one of his tentacles. _Yet they continue to farm and consume other rabbits because they are the main food source available to them._

“Still pretty messed up.” Leo mumbled and Piper shot him a glare.

“We can’t approve of your reasons but you’re right, we do need all the help we can get. What sort of help can you offer?” Piper asked. Doing the talking for them as she always did, she was the best talker after all.

_I would like to send one of my proxies with you. As they are vessels of my will and the majority of our kind follow me. Having them with you should ensure you the help of any so called ‘creeps’ you may come across._

“Well that is a very generous offer.” Piper agreed. “But we haven’t come across any …Creeps? So far so.”

“Yes you have.” Nico cut her off leaning against the railing of the ship and crossing his arms as everyone stared at him. “In Venice as we were leaving the reason I stayed a bit behind was to talk down one of them. Kagekao was planning on trying to kill Hazel and Frank for killing the monsters he referred to as “poisons puppies.” The only reason he stopped was because he recognized me as one of the creeps, even if I’m only an honorary member.

“Sense that was still before I was sure the gods thought it was the right time to bring the worlds together, I was able to convince him that Hazel was a human I wanted to keep and he respected that. Not all Creeps will be that understanding or that easily fooled and as most of them are immortal it could cause no end of problems and delays.”

“Oh.” Was all Piper seemed to be able to say but Hazel was staring at Nico hard.

“Nico you trust them?” She asked suddenly.

“I do.” Nico said without missing a beat. “If you accept their help it will be Toby who will be accompanying you.” Toby waved. “Toby and I have worked together a few times. I have had many opportunities to trust Toby with my life and every time he’s come through. If I didn’t trust him completely I wouldn’t be letting him anywhere near you. You’re the only family I have left.” Nico assured Hazel, she nodded.

“I’m with Nico on this then. I don’t want to be up against any more crazy immortal beings then we already are.” Hazel said looking around. Leo and Frank both shrugged, obviously unwilling to argue with her.

_You will owe us nothing after this war. Nico has helped my proxies immensely. It is time they repaid him._ Slenderman assured. Piper looked at Jason who shrugged.

“Thank you Slenderman.” Piper said putting on one of her smiles Nico was only just starting to recognize as fake. “We will gladly accept your help.”

_Excellent then I will leave Toby with you to get acquainted. He can contact me mentally whenever he needs to so if you have any more questions direct them to him and he can direct them to me._ Hoody slipped out from behind Slenderman and handed Toby a backpack they must have picked up in the five minutes after Nico left and before they arrived. He stared at Toby for a long time with a worried expression, opened his mouth to try to talk then closed it again when nothing came out.

“Don’t worry, Hoody I’ll be fine.” Toby said and Hoody grimaced skeptically.

“I’ll look after him, Hoody. I have before.” Nico assured and Hoody gave him a grateful smiled. Reaching out he put a hand on Nico’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, of thanks or reassurance Nico couldn’t tell. Then he jogged back to Slenderman and in another burst of static Masky, Hoody, and Slenderman were gone. In his absence everyone’s eyes turned to Toby who fidgeted and twitched nervously.

“Hi.” Toby said nervously moving a little closer to Nico’s side.

“So your names Toby?” Piper said soothingly.

“Yep, Ticci-Toby because of my tourettes.” Toby agreed. “Ignore the twitches they’re normal, just annoying.”

“Okay well this has been enough weird and crazy for me.” Leo said throwing up his hands, one of which was on fire again. “I’m gonna go talk to my nice normal dragon head until things make sense again. You all have fun being nuts.”

“He bursts into flames randomly and talks to dragon heads, and I’m the crazy one.” Toby asked raising one eyebrow.

“Hey Festus is great at conversationalist, it’s not my fault no one else on this boat speaks machine.” Leo shouted over his shoulder as he marched off.

“He’d get along well with BEN.” Toby commented pointing after Leo. “BEN speaks machine. He doesn’t burst into flames though. Not unless someone dumps water on him and he short circuits.”

“BEN can be short circuited?” Nico asked in surprise. “I’ll have to try that next time he messes with one of my video games.” Toby laughed and Nico half smiled at him. It would be really nice to have Toby here with him, Nico had been getting sick of being so alone.

“Okay so who is BEN?” Jason asked finally fully recovered from the trip through the shadows. “How many of your group are there?”

“BEN is a sentient, demonic computer virus.” Nico explained easily. “He originated in a copy of Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask when it became haunted by the ghost of a young boy named Ben, who drowned. Since then BEN has escaped onto the internet and has been since been helping edit and delete documents to make the creeps seem fictional.”

“That sums BEN up.” Toby agreed. “I don’t know how many creeps there are in total though. Maybe BEN has kept a list and has the numbers but generally I just know the ones I’ve met. I can give you a rundown of them if you want but that will take ages.” Toby continued for Nico.

“I think we have time.” Jason said firmly. “Frank, do you mind staying up here on watch with Leo? The rest of us should head below deck to talk. Maybe the mess hall since it’s become our meeting area as well. Thank the gods coach Hedge seems to be taking a nap.” Frank nodded and the rest of the demigods headed below deck, Toby following.

“Who’s coach Hedge?” He asked sounding really confused. Most of the creeps names were very literal. Nico tried not to imagine what Toby would think someone named coach Hedge would look like.

“He’s a satyr who was sent to chaperone us.” Piper explained. “But honestly he’s the one who needs chaperoning. He attacks everything and causes nothing but trouble most of the time.”

“Oh I know a few people like that for sure.” Toby laughed happily. Nico marveled at how quickly Toby blended in.

“So Slenderman called you his rabbit or something? What was with that?” Jason asked as they entered the mess hall. All found places to sit. Toby and Hazel sat on either side of Nico, Jason and Piper across from them.

“I’m Slendermans proxy.” Toby corrected. “Habit is the one who calls his humans rabbits, and I definitely do not want to belong to Habit.”

“So you belong to Slenderman somehow?” Piper asked sounding confused.

“I do.” Toby nodded. “Humans have almost no place among the creeps unless they belong to someone else. Slenderman's most known for that. Me, Masky and Hoody aren’t the only humans who belong to him. There’s Kate too, and then a whole bunch of ones who didn’t survive the process of becoming a proxy but there are others. The puppeteer keeps a few humans, so does The Rake, Seed Eater, and Jason the Toy Maker.”

“What can you tell us about the people you just listed?’ Hazel asked leaning forward to look across Nico at Toby curiously.

“Well The Puppeteer helps suicidal people kill themselves and then makes them into puppets. I have no idea where he came from or why he does that. Besides that he says he’s lonely and they’re his friends? The Rake was a experiment in combining human and dog DNA meant to create a perfect attack dog, but they made it too smart and he escaped. Seed Eater lures adults in and convinces them that they want to bring it children so that it can consume their life force and live forever. Actually it's voice sounds a lot like yours sometimes.” Toby said looking at Piper curiously. Piper looked a bit sick.

“Who else is there?” Jason asked.

“Well the ones that will probably be the most useful to you are Lui and Hobo Heart and his girlfriend.” Toby pointed out. “They’re the ones in the area, I think Mister Widemouth might be, but he’s in hibernation again I think. Lui is Jeff the Killers brother. He survived when Jeff snapped and tried to kill their family but his sanity didn’t. Last I heard from them he was killing bad humans because it was the last wish of a woman he loved.” Toby tapped on the table thoughtfully for a moment.

“He’d be happy to help you once he found out you’re definitely the good guys. He went through a phase of killing happy people because if his girlfriend didn’t deserve to be happy no one did, but I think he’s over that now. Hobo will definitely help if you need, he just wants friends really. Especially if Nico goes, he’ll like Nico even though they haven’t met yet.”

“How many of them have you met Nico?” Jason asked curiously.

“Oh Jeez.” Nico sighed leaning back in his chair. “Well obviously Kagekao just recently. I’ve been living in the same house as Jeff, BEN, Eyeless Jack, Sally, Smile Dog, Laughing Jack, and the proxies. Slenderman's three brothers have come to visit, and so has Jane so I’ve met them. We stayed with Clockwork and Bloody painter briefly while we were fighting the Operator, they were nice. Ummm am I forgetting anyone?”

“I don’t think so.” Toby said still tapping the table absently.

“And why have you been staying with them?” Hazel asked suddenly sounding a little grumpy.

“I know, I’m sorry Hazel.” Nico agreed quickly knowing she was upset he hadn’t stayed at camp Jupiter with her. “But I omit a feeling of death constantly without meaning to. You haven’t noticed because you’ve already died once, so you're used to it. But other demigods notice and it makes them uncomfortable and afraid to be around me. The creeps on the other hand, often like me better because of it so it’s just easier to stay with them. I know I don’t scare them by accident.”

“We’re not scared of you.” Jason objected and Nico scoffed.

“Nice try, Grace. I know the only one here who hasn’t been afraid of me is Hazel, and maybe Piper, I don’t know I have a hard time reading her.” Nico shrugged. “Sorry.” He apologized to Piper, he wasn’t sure if he should but he always did his best to be polite so better safe then sorry.

“Wait, who on earth is scared of you?” Toby asked suddenly staring at Nico in confusion. “You play hide in seek with Sally and summon skeleton kitties for Hoody when he’s sad. Who the hell is scared of you?” Nico couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Most people who’re afraid of death Toby, you just haven’t noticed because you like it.” Nico said smiling fondly at Toby who laughed.

“That’s true.” Toby said shrugging happily. Piper looked back and forth between them curiously but didn’t say anything. Nico should have known better than to think he could keep his relationship from a daughter of Aphrodite, but he was grateful for her silence. They would have to talk later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a few house keeping items here.
> 
> 1\. this is a reminder for anyone new that I've been writing a series of requested one shots so if there's anything you want to see happen you can go request it there. (Besides first time meetings, all first time meetings are potential spoilers so please don't.)
> 
> 2\. I've had a couple of people want me to restart an old Rise of the Guardians fic of mine on fanfiction.net called Jacky Black. I stopped writing it because there was no interest but if anyone wants to go check it out and let me know if you think it's worth continuing that would be great. I'll post it up here a chapter a day for the next three days to make it easier.


	5. Catching Up

They spent the rest of the day and the evening answering all the questions the demigods had. Minus Leo’s because they were almost all meant to be jokes, Toby seemed to find them funny anyway. Questions stopped when Jason (who had been awake the longest) started to doze off.

“Well obviously Jason can’t take night watch and Frank and Leo had the last one. I’m awake enough for the night watch.” Nico said staring around the table daring anyone to argue with him. No one did.

“I’ll stay up with you Nico.” Toby said quickly. “We have some catching up to do still.”

“Okay teams of two are the norm anyway.” Jason yawned. “I’m heading to bed now.” Jason said, got up and slumped out of the room apparently too tired to keep up his usually immaculate posture.

“Okay then let’s go.” Nico said getting up. Toby grabbed one of the magical mugs that he had found out how to use a few minutes ago and followed him, blowing on the hot tea that had automatically filled it.

“I think I'll come up on deck with you two for a bit.” Piper said casually, her eyes flitting about five different colours. “Not for the entire watch but I’m not tired yet and the stars should be beautiful tonight.”

“Okay.” Nico said keeping all emotion out of his voice as they headed up onto the deck. Once they were up Nico leaned against the railing and Toby stood next to him, sipping his tea and watching Piper carefully. At first she seemed to be looking at the stars exactly like she had said she would, but she must have been judging something because after a minute she spoke.

“So Nico, I guess the rumors about you having a crush on Annabeth were dead wrong huh?” She looked back and forth between Nico and Toby knowingly. “How long has this been happening?”

“About ten months.” Nico answered softly. “I don’t want Hazel to know.”

“Why not? She’s your sister, Nico.” Piper said staring at him in confusion. “She’s your sister, Nico, and if I can sense the love between you two it has to be strong. I’m a charm speaker not a empath.” Toby was looking back and forth between Nico and Piper in confusion. Piper laughed when she noticed. “I’m a daughter of Aphrodite, she’s the nice goddess of love. I’d be quite a failure if I couldn’t sense when two people love each other.”

“Oh.” Toby said sounding a little frazzled. “Could you tell that Hoody and Masky are in a relationship?”

“No I wasn’t around them long enough. I’m sure I could have been sure with time though, their body language did strongly hint they were.”

“I don’t want Hazel to know because of the time period we were both raised in.” Nico interjected before they could get too far off track. “I’m sure you know how history has viewed homosexuality.” Nico said. Piper's eyes flashed steel grey almost like Annabeth's then settled to a almost blue. Her eyes were almost never one colour alone.

“I wish that didn’t make sense.” She sighed. “Greek and Roman cultures recognized homosexuality but modern culture is much worse at that.” She sighed heavily. “I’ll have a talk with Hazel about it. Don’t worry I won’t mention about you, but she should know that the cultural opinion has changed before she gets herself in trouble. Maybe after she’s had some time to get used to the idea you’ll be able to open up to her about it. It might help her adjust to the idea to know she’s known someone who is.”

“Maybe.” Nico said noncommittally. “We’ll see.” Piper seemed to accept that and nodded sadly.

“Okay. I’ll leave you two to catch up now. Gods know if me and Jason were separated for as long as you two were we’d want to be alone.” Her eyes sparked with flecks of violet and she winked at them before ducking back into the stairwell to head below deck.

“She’s nice.” Toby said smiling after her happily.

“Ya she is. Aphrodite is one of the nicer goddesses, though I don’t think there’s such thing as a purely good god or goddess. Except maybe Hestia, I don’t think I’ve heard anything bad about her.” Nico agreed pressing against Toby’s side, tonight was a bit cold and Toby was warm.

“I missed you so much, Nico.” Toby whispered suddenly wrapping one arm around Nico’s shoulders and burying his nose in Nico’s hair.

“I’ve missed you too love.” Nico murmured back smiling softly.

“Tartarus was even worse than you thought it would be, wasn’t it?” Toby sounded choked up, like he was about to cry. “You don’t smile like you did before. Your eyes always look so sad.” Nico blinked in surprise. He had been happier than he had been since he left since Toby came back, and still he was that much sadder?

“I’m sorry.” Nico murmured running his hands through Toby’ hair.

“No I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.” Toby said shaking his head violently. “We promised we’d look after each other and I’ve been just sitting at home while you literally went through hell. I’m so sorry.” Toby was crying now and Nico didn’t know what to say.

“Oh Toby it wasn’t-” But then he choked. If he said it wasn’t that bad he would be lying. He couldn’t even describe how bad it had been. He had been trying not to remember it, and now memories flooded his mind without his bidding. “Yes.” Nico sobbed. “Yes it was that bad.” He buried his face in Toby’s chest and Toby held him close. He couldn’t stop crying now that he had started. He had barely been holding it together for so long and now he was completely unraveling.

“I c-can’t even describe it, Toby.” Nico half babbled. “I had read about it b-but they could even come close. I’m sorry I c-can’t.”

“Shhh.” Toby soothed stroking Nico’s hair, soothing the wild curls. “It’s okay cry as much as you need to.” Nico relaxed in Toby’s arms and just let himself cry until he couldn’t anymore. He wasn’t sure if he felt better afterwards. He had a headache, but there did seem to be a bit less of a weight on his chest.

“Thank you Toby.” Nico whispered. “I’m glad you weren’t there with me, I don’t think I could handle seeing you go through that.”

“I still wish I could have helped.” Toby sighed. Nico looked up to see that Toby had been crying too, quieter than him.

“You did help Toby.” Nico assured softly. “If I hadn’t had you to come back to, I wouldn’t have come back at all.”

“What?” Toby choked and Nico shrugged.

“I would have given up. There were many times when it seemed like dying was a better option than living but I wanted to make it back to you.”

“Thank you for coming back.” Toby whispered. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Nico responded easily and then stood on his toes to kiss Toby softly. The kiss was wet and salty with tears, but they both welcomed it because at that time they just couldn’t seem to get close enough to each other. Even after they broke the kiss Nico rested his head on Toby’s shoulder and they didn’t separate for a long time. Clinging to each other as if their lives depended on it and the other would disappear as soon as they let go. Nico wasn’t convinced he wouldn’t.

“It’s so hard to believe I’m actually out.” Nico admitted softly his voice muffled by the fabric of Toby’s shirt. “I feel like I’m back there every time I close my eyes, I dream about it every time I go to sleep and when I wake up I feel like this must be the dream. It’s just too good to be true and after all I can still feel the air of that place burning my skin and the Phlegethon burning my throat.”

“Soldiers get phantom pains of old injuries.” Toby pointed out softly. “I bet that’s what it is.”

“I know.” Nico agreed. “I’m sorry. I go away for over a month and then when I get back I’m a complete wreck. You don’t deserve this.”

“Don’t say that, Nico, please.” Toby gasped. “I already feel like I don’t deserve you. And I know that’s not what you mean, but I’ve been told my entire life I’m worthless and you're just so….” Toby made a helpless gesture as he looked for the word. “Worthwhile?” Nico chuckled dryly.

“You know after my sister died my father told me it should have been me.” Nico commented flatly. “Everything I did, she would have done better. He’s right she probably would have.”

“I don’t know anything about your sister, but I know I wouldn’t have loved her. I’m glad you lived.” Toby murmured. “Your father is wrong.”

“Thank you vita mia.” Nico breathed contently. He wasn’t sure he believed it, but Toby’s opinion was more important to him than his father's anyway. At least Toby had been there for him.

They were both emotionally exhausted after all that, so they spent the rest of their watch chatting about lighter things. Toby had gone to visit his mother again in the time that Nico was in Tartarus and it had gone well. She had his cell number now and they had talked over the phone a few times, so it didn’t look like they were going to lose touch again. Nico was thrilled for Toby.

“She wants to meet you again some time.” Toby said smiling at Nico. “Whenever things calm down for you a bit. Just for dinner or something like last time.”

“Alright.” Nico relented. “But I still can’t tell her the truth about me. She is just a regular mortal so the less she knows the safer she’ll be.”

“I know, don’t worry.” Toby agreed hastily. “And she knows too, she just knows you make me happy, so she wants to spend more time with you too. Gods know she had to be patient and understanding to raise me.”

“You said gods instead of ‘God’!” Nico exclaimed in over exaggerated shock. “I must really be wearing off on you.”

“I guess you must be.” Toby laughed. “But then again I’ve actually met a couple of gods and no sign of God anywhere, so I’d say gods is the safer option huh?”

“I think so.” Nico said with a shrug. “My mom believed in both the gods and God with a capital G but I don’t think I share her belief.”

“You sound like you remember more about her now… do you?” Toby asked hesitantly and Nico sighed and nodded.

“Yes. Slowly but surely I’m remembering. Just in bits and disconnected pieces here and there. Different things trigger different memories, it’s still hard to piece together most of it.”

“Oh is there any of it you wanna talk about?” Toby asked in the same uncertain tone. Nico knew he didn’t seem as happy about remembering as might be expected, but that was because he wasn’t.

“Not right now.” Nico said shaking his head. “Not yet.”

“Okay, whenever you’re ready love.” Toby relented giving Nico a reassuring squeeze. They still hadn’t really let go of each other, only loosened their grip. Luckily their watch had been quite enough to allow that, it had been awhile since the last monster attack. Nico thought that maybe it was Slenderman’s visit that had made them shy. Once they realized he was gone and not coming back they would start attacking again.

It was about four in the morning when they heard footsteps and hooves on the stairs coming towards them and finally broke apart. A minute later Coach Hedge and Hazel arrived on deck. Coach Hedge scowling fiercely as usual and Hazel smiling apologetically at Toby.

“Okay cupcakes, we’re here to take the morning watch so you two can go get some sleep. Since Hazel tells me I can’t attack you.” Coach Hedge grumbled. Toby blinked at him in surprise for a minute before managing to take it in stride.

“You can attack me if you want, but I can’t promise you’ll win. Attack is Jeff’s version of hi so I’ve gotten to be a hell of a fighter.” Toby replied easily. Coach Hedge glanced at Hazel hopefully, who shook her head.

“No, you two go get some sleep. Nico if you still refuse to use either Percy or Annabeth's rooms use mine.”

“No.” Nico relented. “They aren’t here and I don’t want to kick you out of your room. I doubt Annabeth would mind?”

“Of course she wouldn’t.” Hazel assured placing a warm hand on Nico’s shoulder and smiling at him. “Now go get some rest, gods know you need it.”

“Thanks Hazel.” Nico said smiling warmly at her over his shoulder as she pushed him towards the steps below deck. Toby followed Nico down the steps.

“Shouldn’t you have something to eat before we go to sleep?” Toby murmured softly enough that Hazel and coach hedge wouldn’t be able to hear. “You have weight to gain back after all.”

“No.” Nico snapped too quickly, feeling ashamed of himself when he saw the confusion and fear that flickered across Toby’s face. It always did when Nico snapped at him. “No, I-I’ve been having a hard time keeping food down since I got back from Tartarus. I guess my stomach has shrunk or something but… it makes eating hard and I just don’t….” Nico trailed off and Toby hugged him from behind for a moment.

“It’s okay Neeks.” He assured softly. “I have my cell, I’ll call E.J. about it tomorrow okay? I’m sure he’ll know what’s going on and will be able to tell me how we can fix it.”

“Thank you, Toby.” Nico sighed. “Now let’s go to bed huh? I’m tired and I’m sure you haven’t been sleeping well without me.”

“Not at all.” Toby agreed. “I’ve been back to the about four hours every three days schedule.”

“Well then it’s time we fixed that.” Nico chuckled leading the way to Annabeth's room. They weren’t doing anything inappropriate after all. It shouldn’t matter that they were sharing a bed and Nico doubted anyone would notice anyway, there were locks on the cabin doors.

Toby dropped off to sleep quickly after Nico helped him, but Nico did not follow. Instead Nico curled tighter against Toby’s side and stared at the wall, trying to ignore the flickerings on the edge of his vision. He knew they weren’t real but he couldn’t bring himself to look at them or close his eyes just incase they were. Sleep wasn’t safe anymore, not after everything he had seen. The darkness and vulnerability of sleep was where all the monsters of Tartarus could dig their claws into his soul and drag themselves out of the pit and into his mind. Toby needed his sleep, Nico refused to wake him with the inevitable screams if he slept as well.

Besides he couldn’t shake the feeling that they weren’t safe. They should be, Coach hedge and Hazel were on watch. Soon the other demigods that had gone to sleep earlier would be waking up to defend them as well, but still something felt dangerous. Something that Toby needed to be kept safe from. Nico glanced up at his boyfriend's slack face and then down at his chest, counting his breaths to reassure himself that Toby was still alive and safe, just sleeping.

Nico did his best to match his own breathing with Toby’s but they were too long and calm and Nico’s were short and shallow. Rasping over the pain the had left in his throat and he knew was only in his head.

But he couldn’t help but think that maybe that wasn’t just in his head. Maybe all of this was only in his head. Maybe it was because those feelings were the real ones and he had never really left. Only lost the ability to cope with what was really around him. No those weren’t the only feelings. He could feel Toby’s warmth, his life, there would be no life to feel if Nico really was still in Tartarus. Nico pressed his ear to Toby’s chest counting the beats of his heart.

Why did Nico feel like Toby needed to be protected? Toby could look after himself, even against monsters since Nico had given him an imperial gold hatchet so who could he need protecting from? Who, not what. Maybe the person in Toby’s bed right now, not the same one who had been before Nico had gone to Tartarus. Maybe Nico needed to protect Toby from himself.

No. Nico buried his face in Toby’s chest inhaling the scent of his body, smoke, the woods, warmth, and life. No Nico needed Toby, he needed someone to ground him. He needed Toby? But did Toby need him? No. No, Toby did not need him the way he was. Nico’s mind had become one giant nightmare. How could he justify pulling someone he loved into that?

The answer was simple, he couldn’t. He couldn’t justify letting Toby stay with him when he was a mess that even he didn’t want to touch. Hell, he would have left himself in a second if he could find a way to. So many times he had thought about giving in to the shadows and becoming one of them. Maybe that would be less painful but it was too late already, he was starting to become solid again. But always cold, and hot, and burning, and in pain, and not quite ever really alive. No he could not burden Toby with himself like this. That would not be the right way to love, but still Nico lay with Toby for the rest of the night.

Despite Nico’s decision not to sleep he passed out a couple of hours later. The beating of Toby’s heart lulling him into a false sense of security. He panicked when he realized he was nearly asleep but it was already too late and he was dragged down into the darkness and unknowing of sleep.

_Images were flicking by so quickly and Nico couldn’t grasp any of them. Brief impressions of his sisters, his mother, and Toby flickered through his mind all tinted red and then vanished again before he could grab them. Finally it settled on an image of Percy and Annabeth the way he had last seen them, clinging to the ledge above the pit into Tartarus._

_Then they were falling but this time he was falling with them. He gasped and the rushing wind stole the air from his lungs._

_No, no, no, no,no, no. Not again, not again. He couldn’t measure how long it was before he hit the ground, but then again he hadn’t been able to the first time either. It felt like every bone in his body broke when he hit the ground but he didn’t have any air in his lungs to scream with. He gasped and the air burned his throat, his eyes, his skin._

_He lay still until awareness of monsters screeches and roars drove him to his feet and made him move. His leg hurt with every step but he couldn’t stop, the monsters sounded like they were right behind him and all around._

_At first when he had landed everything had been obscured by a red mist but now it was clearing and again he could see the true horror of what this place was. When he reached the edge of the Phlegethon he collapsed. He couldn’t move any farther not in this place, not with blisters forming on his arms worse than when he had held the Operator inside a forest fire._

_He hadn’t realized until now that he was crying. No he couldn’t cry, not here he couldn’t loose water. There was no way of getting it back, it would only mean having to drink from the phlegethon again only sooner but he couldn’t stop. He should have known better than to think he would ever escape this place again. Children of Hades just didn’t have that kind of luck._

“Nico?” _Nico shook his head and covered his ears. It sounded like Toby, but it couldn’t be Toby. Please not here, he couldn’t be here. “Nico wake up!” Wake up? No that had been the dream, this was too horrible to be a dream. Nico couldn’t have dreamed this, he wasn’t that broken was he? To dream something this awful?_

Then he was awake. Toby was leaning over him shaking him desperately repeating his name. Nico tried to tell Toby that he was awake now but all that came out was a choked sob, quickly followed by another with no time to breath in between. Toby pulled Nico into a hug roughly.

“Breath, Nico. In… Out… breath, focus on my voice and breathe.” Toby soothed in a soft monotone chant. Nico did his best but it was so hard, the air burned his throat, with every gasping breath and they kept getting broken off by sobs. His heart felt like it was beating out of his chest and he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t. “You’re having a panic attack.” Toby soothed rubbing Nico’s back. “I have them all the time. Just focus on me, breath with me okay?” Nico did his best to zero in on Toby.

“Good now breathe in.” Toby took a slow breath and Nico did his best to match it curling into a tight ball and pressing against Toby. “And out.” Toby exhaled and Nico did too, close enough to feel when Toby stopped. Nico didn’t know how long they continued that, but by the time Toby stopped counting Nico could breathe normally on his own.

“I’m going to go get you a drink, okay?” Toby asked softly still rubbing Nico’s back. “What do you want?”

“Mint iced tea.” Nico mumbled. “The magic cups should be able to managed that.”

“You’ll be okay?” Toby asked, Nico just nodded, too tired to answer. Toby left and came back sooner than Nico expected with one of the mess hall's bigger cups full of iced tea. Nico took it and started drinking. It helped to cool the burning in his throat a little and he emptied the cup before he even realized it.

“Tell me about it?” Toby inquired softly once Nico was finished.

“Flash back.” Nico sighed shaking his head and wincing at that made his head throb. “I’m sorry I was trying to stay awake but I guess it didn’t work.” Toby’s eyes widened and he shook his head frantically, pulling Nico closer but he stayed quiet for a minute as if organizing what he was going to say.

“You know for a while after I killed my father every time I fell asleep I was watching him beat my mother again. I know that’s not even close to what you saw but… Seeing something that bad sometimes feels like it erases everything before and after. Like nothing else can exist in the face of… that.” Toby said carefully. “It’s okay I understand, at least a little.”

“No, I am sorry.” Nico said shaking his head. “I wasn’t like this when we got together and I don’t… I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay with me now. I know I’m broken.” Nico could feel himself shrinking. He felt like he was nine again, when Bianca had left him for the Hunters of Artemis.

“No!” Toby yelped immediately making Nico jump. “No, Nico, I’m not going anywhere. How could you think that?” He looked almost hurt. “I’ve needed looking after my entire life, if we stay together you’ll have to look after me and I hate that enough. Please let me take this chance to look after you in exchange.” Nico stared at Toby in disbelief for a long minute, but Toby met Nico’s eyes so earnestly that Nico eventually had to accept he meant it.

“Okay.” Nico mumbled finally and Toby grinned at him hugging him tightly.

“I’m staying as long as you want my love. We’ll get through this together.” Toby assured.

“I’ll always want you, Toby.” Nico murmured back. “You’re my life, I just don’t want to be a burden.”

“You aren’t.” Toby promised. “I love you, you’ll never be a burden to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Take the fluff! I really hope I'm not overdoing it but I never get the chance to include fluff like this in my original work because I keep it strictly nonromantic. :P


	6. Progress and Promises

Nico stared grumpily at the fruit salad Toby had one of the magical bowls summon for him. He didn’t want to eat it but Toby and E.J. both said he had to eat at least some of it, his stomach had shrunk during the time he hadn’t been eating and he needed to stretch it out again. That hurt and made him feel sick, so he was far from enthusiastic about the prospect.

Toby was up on deck now with Leo, who was at the wheel. Nico could imagine the conversations they were having.

Toby: “So you randomly set yourself on fire?”

Leo: “Sometimes, ya.”

Toby: “That’s cool, sometimes I set things on fire on purpose.”

Leo: “What sort of things?”

Toby: “A couple forests, a dozen or so houses, and a whole lot of dead bodies.”

Leo: “Oh uhhh cool.” says while inching slowly away from Toby.

Nico chuckled at the idea then sighed heavily. At least he was alone . He doubted that anyone would find him having a staring contest with a bowl of fruit any stranger than many other things he had done in the course of his time on the Argo II, but he would still feel awkward. Nico took another bite of fruit, watermelon he thought, and forced himself to eat it. At least fruit wasn't heavy food, that made it easier. He managed three more bites before he gave up, willing the bowl to make the rest of the fruit disappear which it did.

Instead he grabbed a cup and made it fill with fresh fruit juice, it would just have to do. Sipping the drink he went up on deck to rescue Leo from Toby. When he got up the reality was almost exactly what he had imagined. Toby was sort of rambling and Leo was edging away from him looking mildly green, staring wide eyed at the horizon.

“Toby?” Nico called. Toby snapped to attention, cutting off in the middle of his sentence and happily bouncing over to Nico. Nico couldn’t help but smile. “Have you taken your meds yet? I have a feeling you were too busy making sure I ate this morning to remember.”

“Oops.” Toby said, his eyes widening guiltily. “You did eat though, right?”

“Yes I ate and it’s not too late for you take your meds yet, just hurry and don’t forget to eat something with them.” Nico reminded Toby. Toby disappeared below deck.

“I never thought I’d be so happy to see you, death boy.” Leo sighed in relief once Toby was gone. “That dude's nuts! And not amazing nuts like me!”

“Haha Leo.” Nico said sarcastically, leaning on the rail and looking over. “Of course he is, he’s a horror character. Honestly I thought you two might get along, you both love fire, pranks, and doing really stupid things. I forgot how easily you scare.” Leo was obviously biting his tongue to keep from responding, Nico half wished he would. “And don’t call me death boy, at least call me Ghost. Some of the creeps have even started calling me Ghosty and I don’t mind that as much.” 

“If you don’t mind it, it’s no fun.” Leo laughed fiddling with a couple of controls on his sphere thing, though Nico couldn’t tell what they did. “Why do they call you ghost?”

“It’s custom among them to go by a title rather than a name, though sometimes the titles have names in them. Jason the toy maker, Jeff the killer, Kate the chaser, Puppeteer, bloody Painter etc. My title even before knowing the creeps was the Ghost King, so when I started staying with them I started going by The Ghost King more often. They know my name and some of them like Toby call me by it, but for some of them calling me Ghost or Ghosty is more comfortable.” 

“Well I feel comfortable calling you death boy.” Leo joked and Nico sighed. Did this boy say anything that wasn’t a joke? Nico felt the ora of darkness around him expand in his annoyance and Leo shifted uncomfortably.

“Sorry.” Nico sighed doing his best to reign in his emotions. “It’s a bit like your fire it just happens sometimes when I’m annoyed.” 

“Oops, my bad then.” Leo said smiling crookedly. Nico did not understand Leo in the slightest, not that he had really tried. Nico did better with the dead than the living or creeps it seemed. “Soooo you’ve been staying with those guys for a while, huh?” Leo asked casually.

“Almost ten months, when Percy disappeared from camp Halfblood there were plenty of people who blamed me. When Annabeth publicly and loudly confronted me about my inability to tell her if Percy was alive or dead I figured it was time to run. When I shadow traveled away at random I ended up in the forest belonging to Slenderman. Toby found me there and tried to kill me before seeing my power and deciding I should meet Slenderman and possibly become a member.”

“And you stayed with them.” Leo asked still trying to sound casual. Nico knew that the causal mask was fake, but he couldn’t tell what was under the casual.

“Yes I did.” Nico agreed defensively. “I know what they do but they’re very different at home. It’s honestly just like living with anyone else. Some of them like L.J. like to talk about the violent things they do, but it was easy to dissuade them from talking to me about it. Other than that it’s often fun, Sally and L.J. like to play hide and seek and it’s fun to indulge them. I play video games with Jeff and BEN sometimes, and help Hoody and Masky with cooking, not that I’m good at it.” Nico cursed his tendency to ramble but Leo was obviously listening and interested. 

“I didn’t hear much about this Sally. Who’s she? Is she hot?” Leo wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Nico made a disgusted face.

“She’s like nine if you find her hot, that’s gross.”

“Oops!” Leo said holding up his hands. “Nope definitely not.”

“She’s really sweet though. I don’t know how long she’s been nine, she’s a poltergeist I think, and I don’t know when or how she died. She’s very physical now though for whatever reason and could mostly pass for alive. She likes playing hide and seek and she’s part of what pulls the creeps together. Even if we don’t get along she sees us all as family and it hurts her when we fight so we always do our best not to.”

“How come is it that I’ve stayed with them longer but you always seem to know more?” Nico jumped when Toby’s voice sounded from behind him. He turned to see Toby grinning and holding a half eaten sandwich.

“It’s because I observe while you run around tripping over things.” Nico teased. Toby shrugged, taking a bite of his sandwich and tilting his head the way he always did when he ate to make the hole in his cheek less of a problem. 

“Well maybe if you're both up here I’ll go have another look at the statue and make sure everything’s working right in the engine.” Leo said quickly and vanished below deck.

“I scare him, don’t I?” Toby asked once he had swallowed his mouthful.

“Ya but don’t worry about it, Leo’s a little flighty, he gets scared or stressed easily.” Toby nodded and finished his sandwich quickly. Nico had noticed that Toby tended not to chew very much, he couldn’t help but wonder if that was bad for Toby’s throat or stomach. In the quiet Nico could hear what sounded like Piper and Jason arguing softly, though he had no idea what it was about. Hopefully not anything to do with him and Toby.

“We’ll be at the house of Hades soon.” Nico said staring out over the ocean. It was a bit cool today but he didn’t mind, honestly it had been too hot for him the last little while. 

“Right and what’s going to happen when we get there?” Toby asked.

“We have to confront one of the giants and the witch working with him to try and save Percy and Annabeth and close the doors of death. That’s what I originally set out to do and failed. The scepter is supposed to allow me to summon a Roman legion of undead, more than I can normally. That’s supposed to allow us to succeed where I failed before. The problem is they only obey a Roman commander, and I’m not a Roman. We thought Jason could do it since he’s a praetor, but Cupid seemed to hint that he wouldn’t be accepted.” 

“I’m just going to pretend I understood that and look concerned.” Toby said and indeed managed to look concerned, making Nico chuckle softly.

“It means we have an army but no one to lead them that we know of.” Nico sighed. “And no time to find someone so we have to go in and hope for the best. It’s my fathers domain at least, so maybe I’ll be more powerful there. Maybe I’ll be able to command them after all, but maybe is about all we have right now. Not that anything is ever a sure thing, we have this thing we call ‘Demigod luck’. Nothing ever goes right for us particularly.”

“Huh yep I think a lot of the creeps are familiar with that kind of luck too.” Toby chucked putting a comforting arm around Nico, though he retreated quickly after a comforting squeeze. Nico appreciated it Frank, Leo, or Hazel could come up on deck at any time after all. “I won’t say anything hopeful so I don’t jinx it but I am hopeful.” Toby said grinning at Nico who did his best to smile back. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask what are the pictures on the walls of the mess hall?”

“They’re scenes from camp Halfblood.” Nico said, glad for the change of subject. “Leo set them up to play real time so the demigods could feel a bit like they were at home.”

“And Leo is a child of…?”

“Hephaestus. The god of blacksmithing, mechanics, and fire.” Nico explained. “That’s why Leo can speak machine, why he’s so good with technology, and why he bursts into flames from time to time. He’s supposed to be able to control it, but sometimes emotion rules demigod powers more than we do.” 

“I noticed.” Toby chucked. “By the way what happened on top of that hill to make you so upset? I could feel it in that darkness.”

“Cupid.” Nico said scowling fiercely.

“The little valentines day guy with wings?” Toby asked tilting his head. Nico had mentioned Cupid before but obviously it hadn’t registered.

“That’s what modern society has made of him. He’s the god of insane love, the kind that leads jealous lovers to kill their partners or commit suicide.” Nico ran his hands though his hair distractedly, annoyed when they caught on a tangle. “Apparently he’s been watching me since I was six. In order to get the scepter he made me admit to the crush I had before you in front of Jason. If he was a mortal I would have killed him instead. He’s Thanatos, the god of death's twin brother, but Cupid said it himself ‘death is often kinder.” 

“Yikes.” Toby said his eyes wide. Just then Piper came storming up onto deck. “Let’s go below deck and give her some space.” Nico murmured moving closer to Toby so Piper couldn’t hear. “She and Jason just argued, she needs to be alone.” Toby nodded and followed Nico below deck. They ended up in the mess hall where they pulled a couple of the comfortable chairs away from the table. Hazel came in soon after.

“Oh good morning, Nico.” She said smiling fondly at him.

“Is it still morning? Nico chuckled softly.

“Probably not.” Hazel laughed. “You look a bit better.”

“Ya I actually got a few hours of sleep last night for once and Toby made sure I ate something for breakfast.”

“That’s good to hear.” Hazel said fondly. “Thanks for looking after him.”

“It’s my pleasure, Nico’s my best friend.” Toby said grinning at her and making a small noise as he twitched more violently than usual. Nico took that as a sign Toby was a bit nervous, Hazel looked a little taken aback. “Sorry, I really can’t control them” Toby said blushing slightly.

“It’s alright.” Hazel assured him. “Almost all demigods have ADHD and dyslexia, we understand mental differences.” She said reassuringly. The same oldness Nico felt sometimes showing through her eyes, making her look almost motherly. “I’m glad Nico has made some friend in this time period, goodness knows it’s not easy for either of us. Just a little while ago Leo freaked out when he realized I had no idea what a ‘chicken nugget’ was, and I’m still not used to all the automobiles everywhere.” 

“You’re from the past too?” Toby asked fidgeting nervously.

“Yes.” Hazel said nodding. “But I wasn’t just sort of pushed outside of time like Nico, I died, about 1942 I think. But since I’m a child of Pluto during all this chaos between life and death I was able to slip out again with Nico there to lead me. That was about nine and a half months ago, he took me to camp Jupiter then.”

“That was when I had to go to the underworld to return Mrs. O’Leary and pick up the book that helped us defeat the Operator.” Nico told Toby to give him some context.

“We? You mean you, none of us were strong enough to fight him at all.” Toby corrected. Hazel asked about the Operator and they had only just started when the ship careened to one side and hit a sudden cold spell. All three of them were knocked out of their chairs, and rushed up the stairs only to find the door to the deck frozen shut with ice that Frank was trying to bust through with no success.

Nico wasn’t sure how long it was, but after a little while the air suddenly warmed again. The ice melted quickly after that and they burst out onto deck only to find Piper standing there looking very pleased with herself. The deck was covered in ice and Festus twisted his neck to look at them.

“What happened here!?” Jason yelped as the ice started melting slowly, there was no sign of Leo. 

“Khione and the Boreads.” Piper said sounding no less pleased with herself. “But we shouldn’t have any problems with them again and I think Festus is properly alive now. Never underestimate the power of love.” Suddenly her face fell. “On the downside Khione knocked Leo off the ship. I don’t know where he fell.”

“Okay do you know where we are?” Jason asked glancing over the side of the railing at sand, lots of sand got closer. “Or where we’re crashing more specifically. GET DOWN!” He tackled Piper to the deck and then all of them his the deck as well. But they didn’t crash, instead a wind caught them and helped the ship limp into a building none of them had seen it blended so perfectly with the sand.

“Welcome friends!” Someone cheered once they were inside. “Any enemy of the Boreads is a friend of mine, please make yourself at home.” Wind spirits rushed around securing the Argo II to a dock. “Come come we are the South winds, we will help you.”

That attitude didn’t last long though. It wasn’t long before the southern winds lost interest in them. Nico didn’t mind this heat as much as the others, but it was nearly debilitating to Toby. Since his body didn’t have the appropriate reactions to dealing with heat like sweating, he was incredibly prone to over heating. Even though Toby hardly noticed this discomfort, for his own safety he had been reduced to staying as still as possible in the shadiest and coolest places Nico was able to find for him.

At night Toby could move around more freely and did his best to help on the ship then, but he knew little about it. Nico even less, so they gave up quickly on that too. One night Toby and Nico went out and had a meeting with some of the skin-walkers of this desert and they had agreed to bring them parts they needed if they could get them. But besides that, Nico and Toby hadn’t been able to do much useful. They were still trying to get in contact with BEN to see if he could come help fix some of the more fiddly equipment, but that hadn’t been working out either.

Now it was day time again and Toby was resting. Nico was wandering around rather aimlessly until he spotted Jason. Jason heard his approach and turned looking Nico over appraisingly.

“Any word from the king?” Nico asked Jason, standing a bit back and crossing his arms. Jason had been called on every day so far by the King of the south winds for an audience.

“Every day he calls for me later and later.” Jason sighed running his hands back through his now almost white hair.

“We need to leave soon.” Nico reminded Jason, scowling.

“You sense something.” Jason guessed.

“Percy is close to the doors of death.” Nico said. He couldn’t sense it, but he knew it was true all the same. Might as well let Jason believe he sensed it so he wouldn’t doubt it. “He’ll need us if he’s going to make it through alive.”

“Alright, but if we can’t fix the ship.”

“I promised I would lead you to the house of Hades.” Nico interrupted glaring at Jason. “One way or another, I will.”

“You can’t shadow travel all of us.” Jason pointed out defensively. “And it will take all of us to reach the doors of death.” Nico could feel a small pulse of power radiating from the scepter at his side, aligning with his annoyance.

“Then you’ve got to convince the king of the south winds to help.” Nico snarled “I didn’t come all this way, suffer so many humiliations…” Nico trailed off in a soft growl, not wanting to elaborate.

“Look, Nico, I’m here if you want to talk about, you know, what happened back in Croatia. I get how difficult.”

“You don’t get anything.” Nico snapped over whatever Jason was going to say. He wished Jason would just stop trying.

“Nobodies going to judge you.” Jason insisted and Nico couldn’t help the sneer that twisted his lips. 

“Really?” Nico gasped in mock surprise. “That would be a first! I’m a son of Hades , Jason! I might as well be covered in blood or sewage the way most people treat me. I don’t belong anywhere. I’m not even from this century. But even that’s not enough to set me apart, I just had to be gay.” Nico lowered his voice when he said it, still not comfortable with the idea of anyone else overhearing.

“Dude! It’s not like it’s your choice. It’s just who you are.” Jason said.

“Just who I am…” Nico did his best to get his emotions under control but he couldn’t seem to help the small tremor that went through the ground under their feet. It wasn’t even what Jason was saying because Nico knew it wasn’t a choice. If it was he would have chosen differently a long time before meeting Toby, it was who was saying them. “Easy for you to say. You’re every ones golden boy, the son of Jupiter. The only person who ever accepted me before I started hanging out with a gang of murderers was Bianca and she died! I did not choose any of this. My father, my feelings…” Nico could have continued but he stopped himself, it seemed to have worked anyway. Jason seemed to be speechless.

Yeah, okay.” Jason said finally raising his hands in submission. “But Nico, you do choose how to live your life. You want to trust somebody? Maybe take a risk that I’m really your friend and I’ll accept you. That’s better than hiding from two of the three worlds you're apart of, isn’t it?”

“Hiding.” Nico hissed, a crevice in the ground opening up between them. He was sick of that word. People used it against him all the time, he was always hiding from something. With Percy and Hades he was hiding from his responsibilities, with Cupid he was hiding from his feelings, and now with Jason he was apparently hiding from the world. Oh he was so sick of it.

“Yes hiding.” Jason insisted mulishly, despite the fact that Nico could tell he was itching to draw his sword and defend against Nico. Well that made an amazing point about how much Jason trusted Nico. “You’ve run away from both camps. You’re so afraid you’ll get rejected that you won’t even try. Maybe it’s time you came out of the shadows.”

Nico let his anger build between them for a couple more moments but when Jason didn’t back down Nico looked down instead. He took a few deep breaths getting a grip on his powers and closing the fissure in the ground. It wasn’t Jason's fault he didn’t know what he was talking about, after all Nico hadn’t told Jason hardly anything about his life. Jason hadn’t asked.

 

“I’m going to honor my promise.” Nico sighed resignedly. “I’ll take you to Epirus. I’ll help you close the doors of death. Then that’s it. I’m leaving again.” At one time he might have said leaving forever and meant killing himself, now he meant going back with Toby. Nico was done saving the world. Let someone else worry about it now. He was saved from knowing Jason's response by the doors to the king's chambers bursting open and Jason being summoned in. Nico slipped away quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In future chapters there will be some Slenderverse creeping in. Tribe twelve specifically, I'll do my best to avoid spoilers but I''d recommend and creepypasta fans check it out anyway.


	7. A Splendid Gathering

Apparently Jason at least took what Nico had said about needing to leave soon to heart because he managed to convince the king of the southern winds to give them a team of venti. Of course they couldn't be up on deck through the process.

  
Nico was quite content below deck but Hazel was getting really sick. Toby seemed to be about to burst with energy he wasn't being given the chance to use. Nico did his best to help ease that and ended up just putting Toby to sleep to ease his anxiety. He hadn't realized before now how claustrophobic Toby was. Since Nico's experience with the bronze jar, he wasn't a huge fan of enclosed spaces, but Toby was much worse. They both decided it would be better if he just slept until they were able to go up on deck again at least.

Nico sat with Toby while he slept quietly, leaving Frank to deal with Hazel's air sickness. Nico ended up dozing himself, never deep enough to dream but that was for the best. After six hours of dozing Nico felt more rested than he had been in a long time. Finally the boat stopped. Nico went out in the hall to see what was up and caught Piper on her way to do the same.

  
"I'll come back and tell you if it's safe on deck." She assured Nico, he nodded watching her climb the stairs silently. It was longer than Nico expected before Piper came back. He was torn between knowing that Jason might need space and wondering if they were in trouble or needed help. He was just about to go up and check before she came back down and told him it was safe before warning him she was about to yell.

  
"It's safe to go on deck again!" She yelled at the top of her voice once Nico had covered his ears. He wasn't sure if it was part of her powers but her voice could sure be loud when she wanted it to be. "Leo is back!" Well that was news.

  
"Wait the jumpy fire guy?" Toby asked groggily from inside the sleeping cabin. There was a thump and an oof as he apparently fell out of bed.

  
"Yep the jumpy fire guy." Piper laughed heading back up on deck followed quickly by Nico and Toby, who was now fully awake.

Once they were on land Toby and Nico stood back and let the others say hello. Toby laughed when Piper tackle hugged Leo and Coach hedge started yelling. Only once those hello's were finished Nico stepped forward to shake Leo's hand. He hadn't been sure if Leo was dead or not and he was glad to find he wasn't. They could use all the help they could get. Once that was done Nico and Toby ignored the group, they were going over events they already knew anyway. Instead they watched the passing people and Toby told Nico softly about some of the creeps that might be in the area.

Nico got distracted when Leo jumped up, and stayed distracted when Hazel pointed out across the sea. His eyes fell on the black lightning she was obviously seeing and he balked.

"That can't be..." he murmured stunned. "Greece is still hundreds of miles away."

"You think it's Epirus?" Jason asked.

"The house of Hades is open for business." He confirmed grimly, now that Hazel had brought his attention to it, he could feel it pulling at him gently. The feeling made him shiver and he couldn't decide if it was in a good or bad way. He could feel Toby's eyes on him and knew he was confused and worried.

"It's begun." Hazel agreed. Nico felt her power join his as they reached towards the doors.

"What has?" Leo asked in confusion, of course he couldn't feel it.

"Gaia's final push." Hazel said her eyes darkening till they almost matched Nico's. "The doors of death are working overtime. Her forces re entering the mortal world en masse."

"We'll never make it." Nico said voicing what he knew and both he and Hazel felt, but she was to optimistic to voice. "By the time we arrive, there'll be too many monsters to fight."

"Those aren't fireworks." A familiar voice said from near them. Both Nico and Toby turned automatically and in unison. Scanning the crowd they both quickly spotted the tall man in the poka-dotted top hat.

"Splendor." Toby yelled jumping up and down excitedly before bolting into the crowd.

"Toby be careful!" Nico yelled after him but he could see Splendor looking around for Toby. As soon as he spotted Toby, Splendor scooped Toby up out of harm's way, letting Toby scramble around to sit on his shoulder.

  
"Toby it's good to see you!" Splendor enthused smiling even wider then usual striding over to Nico. "And Ghosty too! What a pleasant surprise!" Splendor said letting go of Toby's legs to lean down and give Nico a tight hug, lifting him off the ground a little. Nico couldn't help but chuckle.

"It's good to see you too Splendor, though I wish it was under better circumstances." Nico said as Splendor put him down.

"Oh?" Splendor asked frowning slightly.

"Slenderman told you about the doors of death thing right?" Toby asked from his place clinging to Splendor like a koala. "That's them over there. Working over time apparently to spit a lot of the monsters we don't want. If we don't get there soon there'll be too many to fight and I get the impression there might be even if we do hurry."

"Oh dear." Splendorman hummed, his brows crinkling with concern. "That sounds dangerous."

"It will be but someone has to do it." Jason snapped from behind Nico. "And we need to get going now!"

"Oh my, someone's a grumpy gus." Splenderman said. "Here have a flower." He handed Jason a bouquet of flowers he pulled out of the air and thought for another minute. "Okey dokey you guys get going. I'll see if I can rustle you up some back up! The Rake and his pups are nearby and I bet I can wake up Mister Wide Mouth if I tell him we have a new member. Oo and I hear you've made a big impression on Kagekao I bet he'll come!" Okay I'll meet you over there! And you'll have to introduce me to your friends ghosty!" Splendorman rambled as he set Toby carefully down. Before he could disappear Nico shouted.

"Wait!" Splenderman paused mid gesture comically and Nico had to resist laughing. "We're going to the doors of death. The only ones who can come are ones already partially dead or those who are immune to poison. We don't have enough of the antidote for any more people." Splenderman nodded rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Okay that narrows down the list but I can work with it, I'll just enlist a few members of the Tribe. My little bro doesn't need them all the time. Same plan, I'll meet you there, I'll just take a little longer tracking the all down in the forth dimension, that place is weird and not nearly colorful enough. Bye!" Finally he disappeared in a poof of glitter which settled down in a pile half on Toby who didn't seem to mind. Nico ducked out of the way to avoid getting any on himself.

"What just happened?" Leo asked blinking in confusion at the pile of glitter Toby was standing in giggling.

"That was Splenderman, Slenderman's big brother and he's going to bring us some help." Toby said throwing some glitter at Nico, who grumbled and dodged away but not without a few sparkles landing on his sleeve. "Weren't we in a hurry to get going?" The others seemed to remember this when Toby reminded them and they all hustled back to the ship.

Once Leo repaired it so they could sail Nico climbed up to his place perched on the mast. Toby stayed below, pacing the deck excitedly, too excited for the coming fight to stay still. Nico called down directions to Leo who was fixing the ship between directions to steer. While they were on the way Hazel and Nico explained about how the river they were flying over was the head of one of the more famous rivers in the underworld.

"Can I go swimming in it?" Toby asked peering over the edge of the ship.

"No." Nico and Hazel snapped back in unison. Toby held up his hands in defeat stepping away from the railing.

Finally they docked the boat and went down from the ship to the land outside the cave that was the entrance of the house of Hades. Once they reached it they found Splenderman already there standing outside the cave with a smaller figure at his side who was tapping his foot impatiently and playing with a rather large knife.

"Oh do you have any extra celestial bronze weapons? Habit's knife will be useless won't it? It's just normal… no wait it's been worked on by magic to work on anything, but we weren't planning on Greek and Roman stuff when we did that." Toby rambled.

"Habit?" Jason asked raising his eyebrows.

"Ya that's the one standing next to Splender. He's not one of us he's just an asshole but apparently Splender convinced him to help. Unless his vessel Evan showed up but that's unlikely as hell."

"…okay." Jason said.

"We have some extra weapons, I'll carry one in case Habit's doesn't work, but only incase. I won't give it to him until then, don't even mention it to him." Nico cut in quickly and everyone nodded. Nico retrieved a knife and a sheath, threading it onto his belt beside his sword on the opposite side of the scepter. While he did that the others started to head down the rope ladder, Toby was first to greet Habit and Splender. Nico came down last, staring at Habit as he looked over all of them with an almost unnaturally wide smile.

"Ayyy Toby how's my favorite little puppet fairing so far away from his strings." Habit asked bouncing on his toes. His voice was raspy and double toned as if multiple people were speaking at once. Nico could see a few of the Demigods shrink away but Toby's eyes flashed and he smiled challengingly.

"You let me know, stray." Toby jabbed back. "You're the one who cut your strings completely. You're just a discarded rag doll now, huh?" For a moment Nico thought Habit would get angry, but then he threw his head back and laughed sticking his tongue out as he did.

"See this is why you're my favorite puppet you're always feeling sassy." Habit growled at Toby before his eyes skimmed over the demigods unabashedly, checking out Piper. Smirking when Jason and Piper both snarled at him. "What about your friends? Any of them feeling sassy? I heard you had a new creep running around."

"That would be me." Nico said scowling at Habit and gripping the scepter at his side. He was still trying to dissect what Habit was made up of. There were a few different spirits in there, but one of them was definitely dominant which was different than the Operator. "I'm called the Ghost King, I don't think I've met you."

"No you haven't, I've been wasting time with this human called Vinny." Habit said rolling his eyes and tossing his knife to his left hand, holding his right out to Nico. "It's good to meet you Ghost King I'm mankind's bad habit. Habit for short. Are you a puppet too?"

"No." Nico objected, shaking Habits hand quickly, and then ducking back avoiding Habit's swing and drawing his sword to block the next one. "I'm no one's puppet. I hold the strings of the dead." Nico said pushing back against Habit, making them take a step back and then breaking their blade lock. "But I'm saving my energy for the battle I actually came for so if you're not here to help you can leave."

"Oh no I'm here to fight, it doesn't have to be with you." Habit agreed slouching back casually.

"Okay well if you're done trying to kill each other I have one more trip to make!" Splenderman exclaimed clapping his hands. "Hold on just another second kids."

"Wait where's the tribe?" Toby asked a second too late as Splender poofed into glitter again. This time it settled around Habit who didn't seem to care. In fact Nico could have sworn he saw Habit scoop some of it into his pockets.

"Oh the tribes already here." Habit said. Nico noticed a shimmer of black out of the corner of his eyes. "They're just not bothering to show themselves until you need them, after all they're still all too honorable to take bodies."

With that Nico zeroed in even closer on Habit, finally able to understand why there was more than one spirit in him. Absently Nico paced a circle around Habit who stayed still and tense suddenly. Nico touched the scepter again, using it to heighten his senses. There was the spirit that matched the body, Nico could touch it, but just barely. It was buried under Habits. But there were others too, tied together in a way that he couldn't understand.

"What the hell are you doing?" Habit snapped turning to him, his voice even more layered than usual. "Evan isn't allowed out, stop trying to call him out! He won't win against me I sired him specifically to be my vessel!"

"Oh sorry." Nico said brought out of his half trance suddenly. "I've just never seen anything quite like you. The Operator was a collection but not one with such a clear head. Masky and Hoody both have multiple personalities but not multiple spirits, it's very interesting."

"Ya well I'm not your science fair experiment, kid." Habit sneered. "Stop poking your power where it doesn't belong or-." He was obviously about to say something else but he was interrupted by something black appearing and pushing him, making him stumble. "Damn tribe, they're even less fun then Vinny and that's saying something." He mumbled righting himself hastily.

"I'm back!" Yelled Splenderman appearing again holding two people's hands, one of which came hurtling immediately at Nico. Nico saw a flash of brown hair and felt the impact to his stomach and knew who it was.

"Sally!" he yelped as he fell hitting the ground hard with her on top of him. "Why are all of you knocking me over the first time I see you again?"

"Because you scared us!" Sally whimpered clinging to him.

"Okay Sally, it's good to see you and I'm sorry I scared you. Now you don't have to let go but you need to let me get up. Okay Sal?" She nodded sniffling softly and shifted so he could get up and then clung to his back instead. The other person beside Splenderman finished hugging Toby in greeting and walked over to Nico.

"It's good to see you again, Ghost." Jane said staring at him with her emotionless black eyes. "It looks like recent times have not treated you kindly."

"Well we've all had hard times, in our lives or otherwise." Nico replied quickly before looking back at Splender. "This is everyone?"

"Yep." Splender chirped. "I can't come with you I'm afraid but I hope they help."

"Then let's get going." Jason replied quickly, still glaring at Habit then he turned away heading towards the doors of death.

"Thank you Splenderman." Nico said quickly as the others headed off. "They don't mean to be rude, they're just anxious. We all are."

"Of course I understand, Ghost." Splenderman sighed looking worried and old for the first time Nico had seen him. "We are all indeed worried and this is only a battle isn't it? The war is still coming?" Nico nodded silently. "I will start spreading the word. My brother already has but with the both of us spreading the word no one will be able to deny what's happening." Splenderman vanished. Nico glanced at Toby who had stayed behind at his side, Toby gave him a worried look that Nico shrugged off before they both followed the group.

Once they were underground Nico and Hazel took the lead to Habit and Jason's displeasure. Nico knew Hazel didn't notice though so he ignored it too. Hazel trailed her fingers over the wall as they went, Nico watching the dead that lurked around every corner for signs of hostility. There were more and more as they went along.

"These aren't the walls of the temple. This is the basement of a wealthy home, built much more recently than the temple." Hazel murmured, her eyes practically glowing gold.

"You're right." Nico confirmed. "When archeologists first started digging here they thought they had found the house of Hades, but then they found this place and thought they must be wrong. In reality they were right they just didn't dig quite deep enough."

Habit seemed uncomfortable here as well, but Nico ignored them as Hazel took twists and turns without hesitation, her senses leading them. Nico could tell they were going the right way because now all the spirits around them were flicking about in active anxiety. Now he could also pick out the members of the tribe. Streaks of black that didn't act as the other ghosts did. Ghosts usually obeyed laws of physics if only out of habit from when they were alive. The Tribe spiraled up to the ceiling, raced down ahead of them, diving to the ground and then rushing back. Sometimes vanishing completely before reappearing mid motion somewhere else. Nico watched them in amazement and when he glanced at Toby he was too.

Finally they reached the chalice full of poison. By now they were so deep Leo had summoned fire to light their way, and the aura of Nico's scepter was glowing a strong, steady, purple.

"Okay now everyone not properly alive needs to take a step back please." Nico instructed politely. "The rest of us have a ritual to perform in order to get closer to the doors of death. That includes you Sally, please get down for a minute." Sally whined but Jane took her from Nico. Gently holding her instead and taking a step back with her, followed by Habit, and the now half visible members of the Tribe. Some of them took a step back too enthusiastically and blinked out of existence again.

Once they were out of the way the demigods and Toby formed a circle on instinct and they each ate a bit of the barley cake. Toby was the only one who didn't make a face. Once that was done Nico took the chalice out of it's niche, while he took a careful drink he had an idea. The poison tasted surprisingly okay for what it was but that didn't make it any less deadly if they had gotten this wrong. While he drank he locked eyes with Jason, when he was done he held it out to Jason.

"You asked me about trust and taking a risk? Well, here you go, son of Jupiter. How much do you trust me?" Nico asked his lip curling in a smirk. If Jason wanted Nico to trust him he would have to show his trust first, and with how Jason still reacted whenever Nico got upset he was almost sure Jason wouldn't.

It was to his surprise when Jason took the cup from Nico without hesitation, meeting Nico's gaze steadily in a way no demigod but his sisters and Annabeth had ever been able to do. He lifted the chalice to his lips and drank without any hesitation and met Nico's eyes again as he passed it on to Piper. Nico could feel emotions warring within him, mistrust, fear of trusting, and happiness. To his surprise it was happiness that won, he was glad of the idea that Jason trusted him, wanted Nico to trust him that badly, and that anyone at all wanted to be his friend. Nico smiled at Jason slightly. Jason smiled back brightly.

"Okay let's continue now." Nico said carefully placing the chalice back in it's nook once everyone who needed to had drunk from it. "From this point on the dead are more powerful than the living."

"Can I go back to Nico now?" Sally asked. So Jane passed her over. Nico nearly dropped her as she was passed into his arms because now she actually had some weight to her. She still wasn't by any means heavy or even as heavy as a little girl her age would be, it just startled him. He caught her again before she fell and she giggled madly.

"You're not light as a feather anymore Sal, have you been eating too much?" Nico joked bouncing her slightly and she laughed again.

"No I just have some substance here! It's almost like having a body again only better because this one's not being eaten by bugs." Sally explained. Nico noticed Leo and Frank turning a little green out of the corner of his eyes and glared at them, they both looked away. They all started moving down the corridor again and before long all of the tribe came back into visibility. This time in the form of black humanoid outlines walking around them like an escort. Some of them were quite od looking, like the one who seemed to have X's over her eyes and the one with eyes in his hands instead of on his face. Nico didn't care but the other demigods seemed uncomfortable, Nico wasn't sure how much of that was their companions and how much was the location. The atmosphere was tense until one of the tribe, one with white dots for eyes and a thin smile, fell back next to Toby.

"Tag you're it!" The tribe member yipped, the blackness pulling back to reveal a young man with curly brown hair and dark eyes. He poked Toby and then dodged out of the way when Toby tried to poke him back.

"Damn it Fire Brand, no powers in games, you know that!" Toby scolded as Fire Brand turned back into a black streak, shooting away down the hall with Toby trying to give chase.

"Be careful!" Hazel called after them as Sally squirmed down from Nico's arms and took off after them laughing.


	8. Dancing and Discord

The game of tag was short lived however as the tunnels began to split more and more frequently everyone was forced behind Hazel so she could lead. Now she was hesitating between choices. Nico knew better than to thin, there were too many options. Something was blocking her senses. He thought it might be blocking him a little too. The normally clear visions of spirits were a bit blurry around the edges, hard to distinguish fully, and he knew better than to think it was the dark stopping his sight.

‘Why does she get to lead?” Habit grumbled grumpily. Jason scowled at him.

“When you can tell if a tunnel is safe and goes where we need to go by touching the stone, then you can go ahead.” Hazel cut in coldly before Jason could say something even more rude.

“Maybe I can.” Habit said sulkily. “You don’t know anything about my powers.”

“Ya, but I do.” One of the tribe members, with glasses by the looks of it, snapped. “Stay in your hutch, rabbit.” They started fighting and fell to the back of the group. Besides nervous looks shot their way by Leo and Frank they were ignored.

The other demigods bantered as they got used to the presences around them mentioning how odd it was that they hadn’t run into any monsters yet. Nico knew it would happen sooner than later. Toby had stopped wandering off and instead walked close to Nico’s side. Nico could tell he was uncomfortable. A combination of the feeling of the place and the enclosed space no doubt, but Toby was staying alert he would be ready to fight at any moment. They all would be when the time came.

Nico braced himself as another tremor came up through the earth. He could feel every time they opened. It came as a rush of power to him every time, a rush of power, but not a comfortable one. It felt cold and painful every time it pumped through his veins. This time the walls and ceiling cracked as well. Everyone flinched besides Nico and Hazel, they had known it wouldn’t fall this time.

“That was close.” Hazel muttered once it calmed down. She took Frank's hand, Nico guessed to calm him. “These passages won’t take much more.”

“The doors of death just opened again.” Nico informed the group at large shaking his hand discreetly trying to get rid of the sting.

“It seems to happen every fifteen minutes.” Piper commented.

“Every twelve.” Nico corrected her automatically he didn’t know how he knew he just knew, like “We’d better hurry. Percy and Annabeth are close. They’re in danger, I can feel it.” He didn’t mention that the reason he could feel it was because they already had one foot in death. Much more and they wouldn’t be able to make it back into the land of the living as anything more than ghosts. They hurried on in silence after that for quite a while.

“Offerings?” Piper guessed breaking the silence when they came to a chamber with coins littering the floor. They all ignored Habit as he stole some pretending they hadn’t seen.

“Yes. If you wanted your ancestors to appear you had to make and offering.” Nico agreed, nudging the skull of some long dead sacrificial animal and watching it crumble to dust.

“Let’s not make an offering.” Jason asserted, Habit and Firebrand laughed, nobody argued.

“The tunnel from here is unstable. The floor might… well just follow me. Step exactly where I step.” Hazel ordered and everyone with any weight fell in behind her. Jane came last because her movements were done with perfect precision. She wouldn’t fall prey to any game of movement broken telephone.

Frank seemed to be having some trouble. Not that Nico was surprised, he was just surprised that no one else seemed to be. Besides Toby that was, his hand had made it’s way onto Nico’s shoulder and Nico didn’t have the heart to tell Toby to remove it. Nico didn’t know what Toby was seeing if anything, but there was a strong possibility it was something frightening and he needed to keep contact with Nico to make sure it wasn’t real. Hazel told them to wait and went on ahead, one of the Tribe didn’t listen and went with her. Nico was glad they did incase there was trouble.

“Scary room ahead.” Hazel warned when she came back, the member of the tribe was circling around her curiously. They seemed to have taken a particular interest in her. “Don’t panic.”

“Those are two things that don’t go together.” Leo mumbled as they followed Hazel into the room. It was made of bone architecture, Nico had seen and admired these before. He had often wondered if he could create one easily.

“Touch nothing.” Hazel warned, glaring back at Habit who scowled and shoved his hands deep in his pockets.

“Which way now?” Jason asked looking at Nico and Hazel. Hazel seemed uncertain and looked at Nico but Nico wasn’t sure either. He was now experiencing the same fogging of his senses that Hazel had been. He should have been able to sense this many bodies, even this old from far away but he hadn’t.

“This should be the room where the priests invoked the most powerful spirits. One of these passages leads deeper into the temple, to the third level and the altar of Hades himself. But which-”

“That one.” Frank interrupted pointing at one of them. Both Hazel and Nico stared at him in shock. Why would he know?

“Why that one?” Hazel asked.

“Can’t you see the ghost?” Frank asked.

“Ghost.” Nico said blankly, he could see a ton of ghosts but not one by that door.

“I can.” Jane said suddenly, the first time she had spoken since they entered the tunnels. “There isn’t much I can’t see.”

“Okay anyway we need to go now!” Frank exclaimed suddenly. Nico could feel the tremor coming to but Hazel stopped Frank.

“I need to scout the path!” She insisted.

“Hurry then!” he insisted and Nico knew that she tried but when they were halfway across the room began to echo with roars. Well there were the monsters they had been wondering about.

“Hazel don’t stop.” Nico encouraged drawing the scepter from his belt. He wasn’t sure he would be able to control the dead he summoned with this thing, but at the very least they would get in the way.

“Go go go!” Frank yelled after only a few more seconds tackling Leo and Hazel down as a spear flew overhead. They rushed to the other side of the cave into the tunnel. The others followed quickly but it was too late. Half of the floor caved in finally showing them where all of the monsters had been hiding.

“Finally the fight has showed up.” Habit laughed happily drawing his knife and grinning widely. They were surrounded quickly .

“Nico the scepter!” Frank yelled. Nico resisted the urge to roll his eyes. As if he wasn’t going to do that already. He raised the scepter and was finally able to channel the power from the doors of death back out of himself through the scepter, summoning more dead than he had ever summoned before. He could feel the many threads stretching out from himself but he could feel the difference.

They were taking less of his energy, which was good. The bad was that because of this the threads between him and the dead were too thin for him to properly manipulate. He did his best but it wasn’t working. Meanwhile the Tribe, Habit, Sally, and Jane had all rushed into the fight. Habit’s blade was working just fine but.

“Jane catch.” Nico yelled drawing the bronze blade and tossing it to her. She turned and caught it’s handle expertly, staring at him. “It works better against this kind of monster, regular metals will go right through them unless specially blessed!” Nico snapped. She nodded, turning around and immediately severed one of the monster's head from it’s neck. She tore through the flesh and it disintegrated into dust, she didn’t even bat an eye before she was on to the next one.

Habit was laughing as he fought many monsters at once, holding one with claws in a headlock as he stabbed at another. The one under his arm clawed at him but Habit didn’t seem to care even when it drew blood. Nico ignored it, Habit didn’t look like he needed help and there was every possibility that Habit couldn’t die. It was Sally who really surprised him as she seemed to reach inside monsters and rip out their hearts or other organs. Her hands and dress were already covered in blood. When they attacked her they went right through, so Nico let his attention slip away from her too and focused on trying to control the dead as Toby defended him. It wasn’t working at all.

“Stupid Ghosts!” Nico shouted angrily. “I know I’m a Greek but this is not the time for old grudges!”

“They won’t listen!” Jason agreed, angrily cutting through some kind of monster that charged him. They were all starting to blend together.

“Cohorts! Lock shields!” Frank barked and to Nico's surprise some of the dead actually moved to obey him.

“Frank, how did you do that?” Jason shouted, they had to be shout now to be heard over the noise the monsters were making.

“I’m a ranking Roman officer.” Frank shouted back sounding surprised. “They don’t recognize you, sorry.”

“How can we help?” Jason asked, he didn’t sound surprised. Nico wasn’t either, Jason had always seemed more Greek than Roman to him too.

“Orbem formate!” Frank ordered switching to Latin. Only the same amount of dead responded sluggishly. “My rank!” Frank exclaimed.

“All these monsters are rank!” Piper shouted, Nico glowered at her. He dodged in front of Toby who had just been knocked down, slaying the monster he had been fighting while Toby picked himself up. The bandage on his face had been torn off reveling the hole in the flesh of his cheek and he glowered at the monsters, his tongue lolling out of it. A few of the monsters recoiled and Toby laughed.

“He means he can’t control a whole legion. He’s not a high enough rank.” Jason explained. Nico had the feeling Frank might have said something but he hadn’t heard it.

“Then promote him!” Nico shouted in annoyance before lowering his voice so Toby could hear. “Where are your mouth guard and goggles? You need to protect your eyes at least.”

“Oh right!” Toby said and pulled his goggles out of his pocket and slipping them on with practiced hands before lunging back into the fight. Whatever Jason and Frank had done must have worked because the next thing he knew the ties of the dead were being pulled by someone else besides him and they were listening.

Nico watched in awe as the hundreds of dead formed legions and attacked, joining the creeps in the whirlwind of fighting. Nico looked over and saw Toby grappling with a monster and laughing. He was having fun, so was Sally and Habit and they were winning. Nico raised the scepter and summoned even more dead, a laugh bubbling up inside of himself as well. He didn’t even try to suppress it laughing out loudly, and grinning widely.

“That’s more like it!” Nico cheered. “Let’s turn this tide!” Frank shouted orders and Nico rushed in to fight alongside Toby. They turned it into almost a dance, laughing together as they half played, to the great disadvantage of all those monsters who faced them.

“Nico keep trying to raise the dead!” Frank shouted across the horde at him. “We need more numbers!”

“On it!” Nico laughed. Toby reached out to take Nico’s hand in one of his so Nico could draw on a bit of his energy too, pouring it directly into summoning more. He would make this army into a hydra, for every soldier the monsters cut down he would summon two more.

After that Nico lost track of what was happening. He noticed when Frank started to glow but other then that there was only fighting. Sometimes with Toby, sometimes with Jane who he fought back to back with. Sometimes with Sally, that turned into a game where Nico would lure monsters into attacking him, then dodge out of the way so that they would run through Sally and leave their insides behind in her hands, disintegrating into dust as they tried to figure out what had just happened. Then back to Toby because Habit was a lone fighter.

Nico, Toby, and Habit where the last ones fighting. Cutting through the last of the earthborn and then it was over. All of them were laughing and giddy from adrenalin. Sally charged Nico and he scooped her up spinning her around as she laughed.

“That was fun!” She giggled happily, giggling to the ground and starting to play with the clay that had been the earth born.

“Hell ya it was!” Habit cheered. “Ghost, you’re not bad at at all that was the best fight I’ve had in decades! Even better than since I got a whole a entire police squad down on me! Humans are too easily manipulated.”

“Thanks.” Nico said smiling at Habit a little before wading back towards his fellow demigods, leaving Habit and Sally to play in the clay and Jane to check a very annoyed Toby for injuries.

“Frank, you’re on fire.” Jason commented and Frank seemed to notice for the first time, quickly putting out the flames on his clothes.

“Umm you also have an arrow sticking out of your arm.” Nico pointed out. It looked like the blessing of Mars took a form a lot like the disorder Toby had all the time.

“I know.” Frank said snapping off the shaft of the arrow. “I’ll be fine.”

“Frank you were amazing!” Piper praised him. Nico couldn’t help but catch the slight charm speak she added to making him feel better no doubt. “Completely terrifying but amazing. So were all of you.” She said to Sally, Habit and the others.

“The dead won’t stay much longer now that the battle is over.” Nico cut in. He could feel their annoyance, they were already starting to draw on him more heavily. He would have to let them go soon.

“Legion!” Frank shouted and they all turned to face him. “You have fought well. Now you may rest. Dismissed.” They crumbled into piles of bones and Nico sighed in relief as the pull on his life diminished. “Hazel and Leo. We need to find them.” Frank said to the group even though he looked like he could pass out any minute now that the blessing had warn off.

“Well we can’t go that way.” Nico comment gesturing at the collapsed tunnel before looking down into the pit. “Maybe.” Suddenly a wave of the same painful power hit him more powerful than before. During the battle he hadn’t noticed it had stopped but it had started again, double what it had been. He would have fallen if Jason hadn’t caught him. Nico didn’t try to push Jason away leaning on him heavily.

“Nico what is it?!” Piper exclaimed worriedly.

“The Doors.” Nico almost whispered, he felt like the power was strangling him. “Something’s happening. Percy and Annabeth… we need to go now.”

“But how? The tunnel is gone!” Jason asked and Nico shrugged helplessly.

“It won’t be fun.” Frank cut in suddenly and they all looked at him. Somewhere during the fight he had replaced Jason as their leader for now. “But there is another way.”  
They had to climb down the tunnel and Frank had been right, it wasn’t fun or easy. Along the way Nico was able to open cracks in the side to provide easy foot and hand holds, but he couldn’t do it often for fear that the tunnel would collapse. Nevertheless they made it, and just in time it seemed, at least everyone was still alive.

“Sorry we’re late.” Jason spoke for them as they all glared at the giant shrouded in darkness. Besides Habit, who was watching the witch with interest. “Is this the guy who needs killing?” After that the fight seemed to be in their favor even though the giant was more powerful than all of them. They were more numerous and every time he was about to engage one of them, another would distract him with an attack from a different direction.

Half way through the fight Toby sprinted away sheathing his axes. He grabbed Percy, hoisting him over his shoulder before grabbing Annabeth under his arm too from the place where they had collapsed.

“What are you doing?” Percy asked weakly, to weak to move.

“You two are too close to the fighting, too weak to join and as far as I can tell too important to get stepped on.” Toby snapped running with them to a place near the exit and out of the way. “So I’m moving you duh!”

Finally the cloud of black surrounding the giant fell and Hazel's patron goddess stepped in to end things. “And so it ends.” She commented as she raised her torch to light the giant on fire. He made some sort of speech as he melted but Nico blocked it out in favor of taking stock of damages.

“You should go now Hazel Lévesque. Lead your friends out of this place.”

“Just like that? No ‘thank yous’? No ‘good works’?” Hazel snapped. Nico could have laughed. He had a feeling that if any of the gods ever showed gratitude they would immediately be disowned. Hecate made a bit of a speech about how it was yet to be seen if Hazel had done well, which Nico thought was bullshit and then vanished. They all seemed to agree to pretend it hadn’t happened and instead the demigods rushed over to Percy and Annabeth to great them. Nico stayed back with the creeps. Habit asked if the fighting was over and then vanished abruptly when the answer was yes. Nico didn’t question it.

“Hey.” Hazel called to Nico beckoning him over to her. He went over to her hesitantly, skirting around Percy as if there was an invisible force field around him. When he reached Hazel he leaned down slightly and kissed her forehead, he was just so glad to see she was okay.

“I’m glad you’re alright.” He half whispered. “The dead were right. Only one of us made it to the Doors of Death. You… you would have made dad proud.” She smiled up at him fondly and cupped his face in her hands affectionately.

“We couldn’t have defeated Clytius without you.” She promised. Softly she ran her thumb under his eyes as if she was checking if he was crying, and not even he was sure if the answer was yes or no. He might have thought about it more if at that moment there hadn’t been a loud cracking noise from the ceiling that made them all flinch. Including Hazel and Nico this time because they knew the cave really could come down at any time.

“We need to get out of here.” Jason said. Nico resisted the urge to say no duh. “Uhh Frank?”

“I think one favor from the dead is all I can manage today.” Frank said. Ya me too Nico thought, he wouldn’t be able to do another summoning of that size until he’d had a nap.

“Wait, what?” Hazel asked, though Nico didn’t think it was the time. Piper explained anyway.

“We’ll have to shadow travel then!” Hazel declared. Nico flinched, if he couldn’t do a summoning right now he certainly couldn’t shadow travel a group this size and Toby was already looking tired. Even though Nico could see his unspoken offer he couldn’t take more power from Toby.

“Hazel I can barely manage that with only myself. With this many people.”

“I’ll help you.” She said. Nico stared at her for a moment then nodded.

“So will I.” Jane offered. Nico had almost forgotten she was there. “I’ve seen the way Toby does it.” Nico took a deep breath and nodded.

“Everyone grab hands.” He shouted grabbing Jane's hand with one of his and Hazel's with the other. All the others joined hands as well and Nico pulled them all through the shadows onto the hill above the temple. This time it was Toby who caught Nico when he fell. They sat down together hard. Nico knew he wouldn’t be able to get up for a little while. It didn’t seem to matter though. Everyone else was sitting down too and beginning to exchange stories. Splenderman came half way through and took Sally and Jane away again. The tribe having already left on their own like Habit. They all thanked them.

“It’s nice to meet you, I don’t think Nico’s mentioned you.” Percy said holding out his hand to shake to Toby, the only one of the creeps left now. Toby took it but Nico could tell he was squeezing too hard. Percy refused to flinch, they both let go quickly.

“No, I get the impression he doesn’t mention many things to you.” Toby said his lip curling. “He’s mentioned you to me though, extensively, and not a lot of it has been good.” Toby commented staring challengingly at Percy. Percy looked behind Toby at Nico.

“Oh is that so.” Percy asked scowling. Nico ignored them both stubbornly.

“Don’t blame him for doing something we all know you do. As far as I know you have no ‘high horse’ to look down from.” Toby snapped bringing Percy’s attention back to him.

“And you do.” Percy challenged.

“Hell no.” Toby laughed harshly. “But at least I admit it. You seem to think you’re a hero.”

“I’ve saved the world.” Percy snapped, he looked like he was about ready to fight Toby.

If they did fight Nico wasn’t going to break it up. Like cats it would be better to let them sort this out themselves. Nico took a juice box from the picnic Piper had summoned from her horn of plenty and sat back to watch.

“Heroes don’t forget their ‘friends’ until they need something from them.” Toby half shouted and Percy swung at him. Toby let Percy hit him and at first Percy seemed pleased, but then Toby laughed and Percy looked even angrier. “God job asshole I can’t feel pain.” Toby laughed and punched Percy back. Percy dodged but not as effectively as he normally would have, he was tired after all.

No one intervened even when the fighting escalated to weapons. Even Annabeth just watched curiously as the two of them fought. Neither of them were at their best, but it was still an impressive show. Nico half expected it to end in a tie but what he did not expect was for Toby to win until suddenly it happened. Toby knocked Percy’s sword out of his hand and pushed him down.

Everyone moved to stop the fight now, but it was Nico who got there first simply stepping into the line of Toby’s killing blow. Toby stopped immediately the blade of his ax centimeters from Nico’s neck. Nico glared at him coldly. His eyes almost black, they stayed frozen like that for a long minute before Toby skipped back.

“I’m sorry Nico. I’m sorry, I know you gave me this weapon I shouldn’t use it against your allies.”

“And?” Nico asked coldly.

“And I should only be fighting when you tell me to anyway. I’m here to help you.” Nico didn’t say anything, raising one eyebrow and another silent and? “And it won’t happen again I promise.” Toby supplied instantly and Nico sighed relaxing a little.

“Good.” He acknowledged. “Now the fact that it’s dark mean you’ve already missed one dose of your medications. You should go get them and don’t run, you’ve already strained your body enough.” Toby looked down and nodded, holstering his axe before he turned and walked back towards the ship shoving his hands deep into his pockets. Nico watched him go and then turned back to see that everyone was staring at him. He shrugged and reached out his hand to help Percy up. 

"Sorry about him I think it was just the adrenalin getting the best of him. He’s not usually like that. He’ll have calmed down by the time he gets back and we can forget this ever happened." Percy accepted Nico’s hand. Nico helped him up before letting go quickly, going back to sit in the circle with the other demigods. “Now we have some more catching up and planning to do before Reyna arrives don’t we?”


	9. So Cold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if I freaked anyone out making you think I would actually stop writing this. Don't worry I'm not going anywhere but I really do want to emphasize how much comments mean to me. I don't mean to guilt trip anyone but even a "Good job" makes me feel better about putting so much time into this when I have school and work.
> 
> Other then that I cosplayed Ticci-Toby this weekend and it you want to go see the pictures you can go to my Tumblr to-much-tea-stuff. This site won't let me link them directly but if you search Ticci-Toby cosplay on my blog you'll find them. There's one of my makeup higher up but if you scroll down a bit you'll see a little photoset me and my friend Lizzy did for fun. :P

After the drama died down everyone realized how tired they were almost immediately, and planning was forgoed until the next day. They all trudged back to the ship in silence besides Piper, suggesting that Nico and Toby could share her room if they wanted and she would share with Annabeth.

“I don’t think coach Hedge will mind since we don’t have enough beds to go around right now. As long as I’m not sharing with Jason.“ Her eyes flashed playfully. Nico agreed gratefully, behind him he heard Percy mumble to Jason.

“I think your girlfriend has a thing for blondes and I should be worried.” It made Jason laugh and Nico didn’t know how to feel about the casual mention of homosexuality so he ignored it.

As Piper had predicted coach Hedge was fine with the arrangement. Of course he was, he hadn’t been around enough to realize the nature of Nico and Toby’s relationship. Nico found Toby slumped in a chair at the mess hell in front of a half eaten plate of food that he was ignoring now. That meant that he had taken the pills that were meant to be taken with a meal at least. 

“How are you feeling Toby?” Nico asked softly resting his hand gently on Toby’s shoulder. “I think we should go get some sleep soon, Piper has offered to share a room with Annabeth so we can share hers now that Percy and Annabeth are back.”

“I’m fine. I always am, I can’t feel pain after all.” Toby said but he didn’t look at Nico, and Nico didn’t quite believe him.

“Come on. If you’re done eating let’s go to bed and we can talk about whatever’s bothering you if you want.” Nico said hugging Toby gently from behind and Toby nodded. He pushed his plate away and the food on it vanished. Silently he followed Nico to Piper's room. She had obviously already gotten her things and gone to crash in Annabeth’s room. Her bed was made and the room was a bit clearer than Nico knew she usually kept it. Nico closed the door behind him and Toby and they both settled on the edge of the bed.

Nico leant down to take off his shoes and Toby rubbed Nico’s back. Nico arched into the touch slightly, enjoying the innocent affection.

“So what’s bothering you?” Nico asked once his shoes were off and kicked under the bed. He crossed his legs under him and looked at Toby sidelong, his head cocked slightly.

“I think that’s the first time I’ve made you mad at me.” Toby said still not meeting Nico’s eyes. Nico blinked in surprise and slowly leaned against Toby.

“I’m not mad anymore. I understand. I’ve come close to killing Percy a couple of times myself.” Nico assured uncertainly.

“It’s okay just what I expect from people when they’re angry with me… what people have done to me when they were angry.” Toby made a hopeless gesture with his hands. Nico hugged him tightly noticing with distress that Toby flinched slightly.

“Mentally or physically, I will never hurt you Toby, I promise.” Nico said softly. “You are my life, Vita mia, of course I would never hurt you.” Nico felt Toby slowly relax in his arms and gave a small smile. 

“You loved that boy Percy before me, didn’t you?” Toby asked softly. Nico felt his breath catch in his throat, he hadn’t told Toby that before. Though he had ranted about how infuriating Percy could be now and then.

“Yes. I was young and I thought he was a real hero like the ones in my games and books. He never knew about or returned those feelings of course, it only made it hurt more when I found out he let my sister die.” He looked away from Toby when he spoke but it felt good to be honest and open with Toby.

“Jason seems fond of you too.” Toby pointed out.

“He wants to be my friend. Gods only know why but I appreciate his attempt.” Nico said unsure of where Toby was going with this.

“They’re both so much… better than me.” Toby said making another small gesture and twitching suddenly. Nico ducked to avoid a collision.

“No.” Nico said firmly Toby looked at him shocked. “No they aren’t. Percy might think he is but neither of them are.”

“Nico.” Toby laughed twining his fingers gently through Nico’s hair. “I appreciate the sentiment but you don’t have to lie. I know, I have to cover half my face all the time because I’m so scared I scare people. I’m so fucked up in the head that most of my family didn’t want me. Besides Slenderman no one but my own Mother and sister has ever wanted me around.”

“I want you around.” Nico whispered softly placing his hand gently on Toby’s cheek. “More than anything. And I don’t mind the scars, you know that. I hardly notice them, I’ve spent most of my time with the dead so I’ve gotten used to much worse. Please don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere where you can’t come if you want to. If the gods want me to again then they can forget it.” Nico giggled a little nervously it was never safe to speak of denying the gods. Toby laughed too, finally wrapping his arms around Nico’s shoulders comfortably. 

“Thank you.” Toby said smiling at Nico. They kissed gently then turned out the light and settled down to sleep. It had been a very long day and since Nico had been drawing on Toby’s energy to summon more dead, Toby was exhausted too. They were both asleep as soon as they got settled.

By the time Toby and Nico woke up the next morning Reyna had arrived. It was the noise of Leo using one of his machines to lower the Athena Parthenos to the ground that woke them. For the first time since getting out of Tartarus, Nico was tired enough to have slept without nightmares and he felt much better for it. They got ready quickly and went down to join the rest of the crew where they were having a picnic breakfast with Reyna, filling her in on everything that had happened so far.

Toby and Nico just listened, both good at being quiet and unnoticed when they needed to be. Though they both laughed at Reyna’s comment about Percy being unable to find his way out of a paper bag. Toby gave most of his attention to making sure that Nico ate something and almost forgot that he needed to eat too and take his morning meds. Nico reminded him.

“So the twenty-million-peso question. We got the twenty-foot-tall statue of Athena. What do we do with it?” Leo asked. Nico started to pay more attention because indeed that was the question.

“As fine as it does look on this hill, I didn’t come all this way to admire it. According to Annabeth it must be returned to Camp Half-blood by a Roman leader. Do I understand correctly?” Reyna asked precisely. She was always precise and militant, Nico had noticed that before, no word was ever out of pace in her speech.

“I had a dream down in…you know, Tartarus. I was on Half-Blood Hill and Athena’s voice said, “I must stand here. The Roman must bring me.” Annabeth confirmed falling into a similar speech pattern to Reyna’s.

“It makes sense.” Nico said and noticed Percy flinch out of the corner of his eye, had Percy forgotten he was there again? “The statue is a powerful symbol. A Roman returning it to the Greeks… that could heal the historical rift, maybe even heal the gods of their split personalities.” That was a bit of a stretch but he was trying to be optimistic for the others sakes.

Instead it was Coach Hedge became the naysayer. Nico stayed out of the short resulting argument. Instead he started thinking about all the problems that were being brought up. The coach was right, they were short of time and there was a long distance and no real way of moving the statue unless… Frank mentioned that he could change to carry the statue, but of course he couldn’t he was required for the prophesy.

“I’m not.” Nico cut in when Reyna pointed that out. Everyone froze and looked at him. Nico stared back making his face into stone as he picked at the pomegranate he had been eating.

“Nico-“ Hazel started, but Nico cut her off.

“I’ll go with Reyna. I can transport the statue with shadow travel.” He thought he could do it. He hadn’t realized until the night before just how much his power had grown. With use, practice, and feed off of his own energy, that of Toby’s, and the few people he had had no choice but to kill over the last few months.

“Uh..” Percy sounded and Nico rolled his eyes. Great, what did he have to say. “I mean, I know you just got all eleven of us to the surface and that was awesome. But a year ago you said transporting yourself was dangerous and unpredictable. A couple of times you ended up in China. Transporting a forty foot statue and three people across the world-“

“A lot can happen in a year.” Nico interrupted, his eyes flashing dangerously. “And I’ve changed since I got back from Tartarus.”

“Nico.” Jason said in a placating tone. “We’re not questioning your power. We just want to make sure you don’t kill yourself trying.”

Nico knew Percy wasn’t worried about that. Percy was definitely questioning Nico’s power but Nico let Jason’s words reassure him. He wasn’t at all sure if he could do this without killing himself trying but there didn’t seem to be any option but to try. He knew he was letting his responsibilities take priority over his life again, but as usual at times like this, that didn’t seem important.

“I can do it.” Nico said sounding more sure than he was. “I’ll take short jumps, a few hundred miles each time. It’s true after each jump I won’t be in any shape to fend off monsters. I’ll need Reyna and Toby to defend me and the statue.” There was no question that Toby was not coming with Nico, they were not being separated again.

“Any objections.” Reyna said looking around and then nodding firmly when no one spoke up. “I see no better option. But there will be many monster attacks. I would feel better taking a fourth person.”

“Coach Hedge.” Frank blurted suddenly. Nico didn’t know what was going on but he was distracted when Toby put a hand on his shoulder and leaned closer to him.

“Are you sure you can do this?” He asked softly. “I know your power has grown so much but… you still sometimes start losing physical form when you push yourself.”

“I will do this.” Nico said softly but firmly. Toby sighed, Nico knew that Toby knew better than to argue, but he would still worry. Nico gave Toby a small reassuring smile. When coach Hedge jogged away Nico got up too. “I should go too and rest before the first passage. We’ll meet at the statue at sunset.” He had slept well, but he wanted to have a shower and maybe actually relax for a little bit before everything went crazy. He could feel Hazel’s eyes on his back. He would have to talk to her before leaving most likely. He could hear Toby’s soft footsteps following him back to the ship.

The rest of the day went well. Nico was able to have a long shower, Toby apparently talked to Reyna while he did. He watched some tv in Piper's room which she agreed was still his until the end of the day, when he and the rest of the statue party would be leaving. He had a brief nap and when he was woken by a nightmare he and Toby went for a brief walk over the hills around the house of Hades. All of the monsters had been cleared out of the house of Hades the night before, so there were no attacks. They stretched out over used muscles. Even though Toby wasn’t sore (of course), Nico was and so he assumed Toby needed to stretch too, Toby agreed that it was a good idea.

About an hour before sunset Nico returned to the statue. With Toby’s help he started to tie ropes around it. He would have to be harnessed to the statue, well, in order to be sure of bringing it with. It was there that Percy found Nico finishing the last of the harness while Toby was gone getting their stuff.

“Thank you.” Percy said suddenly. Nico looked up him frostily.

“For what?” He asked keeping his face unreadable and cold.

“You promised you would lead the others to the House of Hades. You did it.” Percy explained awkwardly. Nico nearly scoffed, as if he would break his promise.

“You got me out of that bronze jar in Rome. Saved my life again. It was the least I could do.” Nico stated but he didn’t mean it, he had done it for Hazel and his friends who would be hurt if Gaia won this war.

“Also.” Percy said and then hesitated. “You visited Bob.” He explained what had happened in Tartarus to Nico. Nico felt like he had been stabbed. Poor Bob was down there alone now. All because he had tried to help Percy and he had tried to help Percy because of what Nico had told him.

“Yeah well… not giving people a second thought… that can be dangerous.” Nico barbed absently checking over his ropes one more time.

“Dude I’m trying to thank you.” Percy objected. It made Nico laugh humorlessly at how Percy just rejected his faults. He had no idea now how he had ever thought Percy was a hero.

“Ya, I know, and I’m trying to say you don’t need to, or maybe you can’t. Now I need to finish this, can you give me some space.” 

“Yeah. Yeah okay.” Percy said and took a few steps back still watching as Nico adjusted a few of the ropes so he could slip them over his arms like backpack straps. It seemed like the most sure way of making sure it came with him. Annabeth came see them off, wishing Nico good luck which he excepted gratefully. Really they could use some good luck.

“Grab the ropes please.” Nico instructed once Reyna, Coach Hedge and Toby were all there. “Here we go.” He said, once he was sure they all had a good grip Nico teleported immediately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what is with this update that doesn't let you select a specific chapter to go to? I don't like it why did it happen?


	10. Pompeii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a chapter mostly to go over plot points that are in Heroes of Olympus for anyone who needs a refresher or hasn't read those books. It goes over things that happened while the characters are in pompeii

The next morning when Nico woke up he felt much better. Warmth had finally chased out most of the cold in his body, though it was still present in his hands and feet. The emptiness was a bit less intense too. He stirred and immediately Toby sat up to look at his face. Nico squinted up at him and smiled half heartedly.

“So how much damage did I do?” Nico asked looking around them, sure enough, all the grass was dead.

“It looks like something out of a horror movie for… I can’t measure distance, maybe a football field?” Toby said. Nico groaned trying to sit, groaning again when he felt how sore and stiff his body was. Toby helped him up. Reyna and coach Hedge were sleep, apparently it had been Toby’s watch.

Nico looked around scowling in annoyance and exasperation. Toby was right, the entire field around them was black, black and covered in bones.

“I wonder what the next poor mortal to stumble across this will think.” Nico sighed unhappily. He didn’t have the energy to spare to clean it up right now. He knew now that he was awake it would be time to leave again soon. They couldn’t stay in the same place for very long ever, it was probably passed time to leave considering the sun was starting to set. It was casting a long dark shadow of the Athena Parthenos that would be perfect for traveling. Nico sat down again heavily, just the thought was exhausting him.

“Why are you doing this Nico?” Toby asked softly kneeling down next to Nico and tilting his head slightly. Nico looked at him curiously. “You’re pushing yourself so hard. Why?’

“The earth goddess might be rising at camp. If she’s going to be defeated the Romans and the Greeks will need to work together. This is the only way that will happen.” Nico explained. He was still curious, he had thought Toby understood that.

“Why is it so important to beat her?” Toby asked softly.

“There are things in this world worth saving.” Nico said meeting Toby’s eyes evenly. Toby’s eyes widened and then he looked away.

“Oh.” He said softly. “That’s what Reyna said last night I just…”

“Reyna knows for sure we’re together now, then?” Toby nodded. “Okay that’s fine.” Nico said with a shrug then leaned against Toby, letting Toby half cradle him and nearly dozing off again before Reyna woke up and declared that they should move again. Nico agreed even though he was exhausted.

Slowly they all got themselves into their positions around the Parthenos. Once they were all in position Nico pulled them all back into the shadows for what felt like the hundredth time.

He wasn’t used to dragging something big with him, it caused more resistance than a normal human and he miss calculated leaving the shadow realm too soon. They were high above the earth. Worse above an active volcano. This was not where Nico had wanted to be but he had underestimated the amount of strength it would take and he felt like a torn rag doll.

“Whaat?” he started to yell too shocked.

“That’s Vesuvius below us!” Reyna shouted at him over the wind. “Nico teleport us out of here!”

Wait teleport? Now wasn’t the time to correct her. “I-I can’t. No strength.” And he couldn’t reach Toby. They could have planned this better. Coach Hedge yelled something, Nico couldn’t hear it over the wind and he didn’t strain to. Knowing the coach it wasn’t nice.

“Nico shadow-travel! I'll lend you my strength.” Nico stared at her blankly. She didn’t know about how he could take it from people so she must have a way of doing it in her own power.

“How?” He started but she cut him off

“Just do it!” She yelled. He felt her hand tighten on his and something forced it’s way into him. Energy, it was familiar to him yet unbelievably strange because this time he was not calling it. Still instinctively he used it dragging them all immediately through the shadows. He could feel something being taken from him too, maybe not taken so much as shared. He nearly balked when he realized that she might be feeling part of what he felt all the time, but she was holding on to him and without her power the travel would have been halted half way stranding them. So he didn’t let go or resist.

After a minute that felt like an eternity the darkness cleared. Reyna let go of Nico’s hand and instantly his vision started to darken around the edges. He couldn’t focus on where they were, but he did notice barely when Toby came to his side.

“We’re in Pompeii.” Reyna said sounding aghast.

“Oh that’s not good.” Nico managed to get out before the last of his borrowed energy fled him and he collapsed. Toby caught and lowered him. The coach came over and undid the harness holding Nico so that Toby could lower Nico to the ground gently. This time there was only a little bit of blackness seeping out of his body. It was much easier to push out this small amount and only about a foot of grass around him died. He was cold again though.

“Drink something.” Reyna half commanded at him and offered him a canteen. He took it wordlessly, he knew what it was. The mixture of water and unicorn horn. For some reason it worked better to ease the darkness. Maybe because unicorns were pure creatures of light it forced that shadows out of his body. He drank deeply, shuddering as the last of the shadows that would leave did. His skin so chilled he felt like the volcano they had been above might not even thaw him out.

“How did you do that… that surge of energy?” He asked Reyna studying her closely. Toby looked at her too, eyes narrowed almost suspiciously.

“I don’t like to talk about it but it’s a power of my mother. I can impart strength to others.” Reyna said uncomfortably.

“Seriously? Why haven’t you hooked me up, Roman girl? I want super-muscles!” Coach Hedge exclaimed. Nico winced he really didn’t like coach Hedge, he could be so insensitive.

“It doesn’t work like that coach Hedge. I can only do it in life-and-death situations, and it’s most useful in large groups. When I command troops I can share whatever attributes I have, strength, courage, endurance, multiplied by the size of my force.”

“Useful for a Roman praetor.” Nico said raising his eyebrows, why wouldn’t she want to talk about that? He ignored coach Hedge as he thought about it. Not that it took much work, ignoring Coach hedge had become his default mode.

“You stumbled just now.” Nico commented after taking another drink. “When you used your power… do you get some sort of, ummm feedback from me?”

“It’s not like mind reading.” She assured him quickly. “Not even an empathy link. Just… a temporary wave of exhaustion. Primal emotions. Your pain washes over me. I take on some of your burden.”

“I’m sorry.” Nico almost whispered, twisting the ring on his finger nervously. He never wanted anyone to feel the way he did. Especially now, before Tartarus and Toby it had been bad because of how alone he was. After Tartarus phantom physical pain had been added and now… . Now every part of him hurt more than he would have been able to stand if he hadn’t been eased into it in steps. Like a frog put into water while it’s cool and then being able to stay in when it came to a boil.

“You should get some rest.” She told him waving his apology aside. “After two jumps in a row, even with a little help… you’re lucky to be alive. We’ll need you ready by nightfall.”

Nico hated it. “We’re stuck here now.” He grumbled unhappily. “Pompeii is the last place I would have chosen to land. This place is full of lemures.”

“Lemurs?” Coach hedge asked. “The little fuzzy things?”

“No.” Nico snapped, taking a deep breath before he continued. “Lemures. Unfriendly ghosts. All Roman cities have them but Pompeii…”

“The whole city was wiped out about 79 B.C., Vesuvius erupted and covered the whole city in ash.”

“A tragedy like that results in a lot of angry ghosts.” Nico agreed, pleased that for once someone else had the facts.

“It’s steaming.” Coach hedge pointed out. “Is that a bad sign?”

“I’m not sure.” Nico admitted excepting the apple Toby handed to him. “Mountain gods, the ourae, can sense children of Hades. It’s possible that’s why we were pulled off course. The spirits of Vesuvius might have been intentionally trying to kill us. But I doubt the mountain can hurt us this far away. Working up to a full eruption would take too long. The immediate threat is all around us.” Nico bit into the apple.

“Can you keep them away?” Reyna asked him. He couldn’t help but notice how nervous she looked.

“I’ve sent out a message “stay away”. But once I’m asleep it won’t do us much good.” Nico said holding out his hand as if they would be able to see the pulse he sent out almost automatically.

“Don’t worry bout it, kid!” Coach Hedge said immediately making Nico worry about it even more. “I’m going to line the perimeter with alarms and snares. Plus I’ll be watching over you the whole time with my baseball bat.”

“Okay.” Nico said. It would keep the coach busy at least. “But go easy. We don’t want another Albania.”

“No.” Reyna and Toby both agreed quickly and in unison.

“Fine, whatever.” Hedge said looking a bit hurt, though Nico couldn’t bring himself to care. “Just rest kid. We got you covered.”

“Okay maybe just a little.” Nico slipped of his jacket. Even though he was still cold he knew it would be better used as a pillow. He rolled it up and laid down. Asleep almost before his head hit his makeshift pillow.

\\(^_^)/<\- (little time skip buddy till Nico wakes up.)

When Nico woke up he was hungry for the first time since getting back from Tartarus. Although it was less like he was actually hungry, and more like his body thought the emptiness inside him could be filled with food. He doubted that was true, but he wasn’t going to miss this chance to eat because he knew that he should be eating more.

His throat still burned enough that he doubted he would be able to eat anything hot. Luckily the avocado and cheese sandwich coach Hedge made him was cool and the smoothness of the avocado was actually quite soothing. Toby looked almost proud watching Nico eat but Reyna looked worried. Nico knew her well enough to know that she was waiting for him to be done to give him bad news. He did his best not to doddle because of that. As he had suspected as soon as he was done eating she told him about a dream she had the night before.

Reyna said that in her dream she had seen New Rome swallowed by the earth. A female voice, Gaia most likely, had talked about how “her hunter’ was coming for them. She had been shot at and the arrow had been about the size of a rake. After that the dream had changed to show her Octavian planning an attack on camp halfblood, which Nico wasn’t surprised to hear. Though he was surprised at how low Octavian had stooped to get allies. Making deals with some demigods that were far closer to monsters than anything.

“I don’t get it.” Toby said looking between the three of them as Nico stared at his plate. “It’s just a dream right? A nightmare?”

“Demigods rarely have dreams, Toby.” Nico said shaking his head. “We see things that are happening in other places, communicate with the gods, or see things that are going to happen.” Nico explained absently as he thought then looked up at Reyna. “This hunter… A giant maybe?”

“I’d rather not find out.” The coach pointed out. “I say we keep moving.”

“You want to avoid a fight?” Nico asked incredulously, unable to stop the smallest of smiles.

“Listen cupcake. I like a smackdown as much as the next guy, but we’ve got enough monsters to worry about without some bounty hunting giant tracking us across the world. I don’t like the sound of those huge arrows.” Coach Hedge snapped. Nico was a bit taken aback at being called cupcake.

“For once I agree with Hedge.” Reyna said seconding the vote to move on.

Nico grumbled and unfolded his jacket which he had been using as a pillow. He could tell by the sun and the way the tourists were dressed that it must be warm, but he didn’t feel it. He slipped the jacket back on, Toby looked a little worried about him. Nico noticed a hole in his sleeve an arrow had made earlier and slipped his finger through it curiously.

“I could ask for advice… Thalia Grace.” Nico mused half to himself.

“Jason’s sister.” Reyna said but she wasn’t asking, Nico nodded anyway.

“The Hunters of Artemis are… well hunters. If anyone would know about this giant hunter guy, Thalia would. I could try sending her an Iris message.” Nico did not want to call Thalia. Last time they had talked it was not on good terms. Nico had been furious with her for convincing Bianca to join the hunters and had not been quiet with his rage.

“You don’t sound very excited about the idea. Are you two… on bad terms?” Reyna asked, Nico flinched a little.

“We’re fine.” Nico lied and from a couple feet away one of Reyna’s dogs growled. Nico scowled at it. Reyna didn’t push the issue, it looked like this time she would let him get away with the lie. Instead Reyna mentioned wanting to contact her sister as well, but they decided all of it would have to wait until after the next jump because it was almost dark. Then all the ghosts surrounding them vanished, the problem was Nico could still feel them. He just didn’t know what they were doing.

“Where did they go?” Reyna whispered franticly looking around her.

“I-I’m not sure.” Nico admitted unhappily. “But I don’t think it’s a good sign. Keep a lookout. I’ll get harnessed up. It should only take a few seconds.”

_“A few seconds you do not have.”_ A female voice said and it took Nico a moment to realize that it was coming from coach Hedge's mouth. It was the look on Reyna’s face that clued Nico in that it was Gaia’s voice. “ _Be glad, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano. You will die as a Roman. You will join the ghosts of Pompeii._ ”

“What the fuck?” Toby yelped as spirals of ash started to swirl around them, resolving themselves into crumbling humanoid forms.

“The earth will swallow you.” Gaia promised still through coach Hedge's body. “Just as it swallowed them.” Nico bolted towards the statue beginning to harness himself as quickly as he could. If he messed up they may not take the statue with them and that would be bad.

“There are too many of them.” Reyna yelped.

“ _The dead always outnumber the living. These spirits have waited for centuries, unable to express their anger. Now I have given them bodies of earth._ ”

Seven billion alive over ten billion dead. Nico knew it was true. Until now it had always been a good thing for him, he could always find plenty to control, but now it was not. He could feel the anger in the spirits pushing his power away from them with a force he couldn’t break through. They had created shells of hatred, thicker than their shells of earth, and he couldn’t break through.

“Nico?” Reyna called.

“I can’t control them.” He yelped back, untangling a knot in his harness. “Something about the rock shells I guess.” No it wasn’t, but the truth would take too long. “I need a couple of seconds to concentrate on making the shadow jump. Otherwise I might take us into another volcano!”

“ _It will not-_ ” Gaia started to say but then Toby hit coach Hedge on the head with the handle of his axe. The coach crumpled.

“That was annoying and weird.” Toby commented. “I’ll apologize later.”

Nico pulled the scepter out from it’s place on his belt then hesitated. “Reyna, if I summon more dead who’s to say they won’t join the mob?”

“I say!.” Reyna snapped. “I am a praetor. Get me some legionnaires and I’ll control them.” Nico hesitated for another moment. “Nico! Zombies! Then concentrate on getting us out of here.”

Nico raised the scepter and felt the earth move beneath him as dead began clawing their way to the surface to answer his call. The ghosts surrounding them charged, Reyna’s dogs pounced and so did Toby. Nico closed his eyes tightly and pushed more power downwards, cracking the earth to give the dead more easier paths to the surface, trying to block out everything around him. But he was weak and his power wasn’t responding to him as readily as it normally would.

“Nico any time now!” Reyna yelled. Nico growled, pushing down hard he smiled when he heard a loud crack from the earth splitting open. The scepter was heating up in his hands but he ignored it, opening his eyes to see dead crawling out of the crack in the middle of the courtyard. Then he looked down and saw the scepter was smoking, so were his hands. They were burning, he cursed loudly but refused to let go.

“It’s fighting me.” He yelled, pushing back against the scepter. ”It doesn’t like summoning Romans to fight other Romans.”

“Just secure coach Hedge. Get ready to shadow travel. I’ll buy some-“

The scepter exploded into pieces in Nico’s hands. He could feel blisters forming on his hands where he had held the metal.

“I don’t know what happened.” He gasped. “You’ve got a few minutes tops before the zombies disappear.” Toby charged back towards Nico, scooping the coach up as he ran.

“Then let’s go!” He yelled and started tying Hedge to the statue with knots Nico knew were usually meant tying people up so they couldn’t escape Toby. They were strong knots so Nico left him to it, focusing on harnessing himself to the statue.

“Legion!” Reyna yelled commandingly. “Orbem formate! Gladium signe!”

“Nico! Towards Spain and a few miles to the left! Seed Eater!” Toby yelled as he tied the last knot.

“Got it!” Nico yelled back as Toby lunged across the distance between them. Nico grabbed Toby’s shirt collar and pulled him in closer, kissing him and drawing out some of the energy he would need for the jump. Toby stumbled but hardly seemed to notice, adrenalin keeping him going. Reyna was yelling, Nico didn’t hear what, but he yelled back.

“Reyna now! We’re leaving!” She looked back. He started the build up of power he would need, focusing on the location, he assured that Reyna would get there in time but then she got hit. “Reyna!” Nico shouted again, he could feel the shadows drawing him in, it was too late to abort the jump now. Reyna lunged for them, Toby grabbed Nico’s hand and lunged for her as well. Nico wasn’t sure if they connected but he could feel Toby’s hand still clutched in his as they fell back into the darkness.

The whispering always bothered Nico about this way of travel more than anything else. Sometimes when he was younger he had stayed for longer than he should have in this place, listening the whispers and trying to answer them. That was really how he had ended up in China.

Save me. – it’s so cold – where am I? That was the sort of things a lot of the voices said in many voices. Too many of them children but there were others.

Then I told her – Get back here you bitch – I’m going to kill that-Many colours of darkness swirled in front of Nico’s eyes. He could feel it trying to push inside him. He shut his eyes and tuned them out, focusing on the place in the human world he wanted to get back to. His feet hit the ground and he slumped back against the statue.

“Reyna?” He asked looking past Toby to see him clutching Reyna’s hand. She was pale, but other than that she looked fine. “Oh thank the gods.” He whispered and then he passed out again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's late, I'm actually ahead in writing them but my editor has been sick so y'all wish him well. :/ and go follow him on tumblr if you want to, Salukinut if anyone is unaware. :P
> 
> Incase anyone didn't notice I've started another creepypasta/Heroes of Olympus crossover. It is called Haemo Kyrios and is focuses on what I think Percy would be like if he was a creepypasta and what would happen when the demigods found out. It is not in the same universe as this fic, mostly because I want to be able to pair Nico with someone new. So go check that out if you haven't already.


	11. Energy and Dreams

“ _Toby._ ” A sing song voice from above called down to Toby has he unharnessed Nico from the statue. Looking up he saw Seed Eater staring down at him with her big dark eyes. Reyna snapped to attention and drew her sword but Toby stopped her.

“Seed Eater! It is so good to see you, it’s been ages!” He said doing his best to smile at her.

“ _So it has little two leg._ ” She hummed leaping down from her tree, landing catlike on the forest floor and striding gracefully towards him. He lay Nico down on the ground carefully before going over and hugging Seed Eater, wrapping his arms as far as they would go around her heavily furred neck. She tucked him closer to her by putting her chin over his shoulder. He could hear the humming purr she made when she was pleased.

“ _I do not believe this is a social visit though is it?_ ” Seed Eater asked stepping back from Toby and walking over to nose Nico curiously.

“No.” Toby said following her. “Though in a way it’s an introduction. This is our newest member, my boyfriend. The Ghost King.”

“ _He has emptied himself._ ” Seed Eater pointed out, sniffing Nico’s chest curiously then she raised her head and nosed Toby too. “ _And he has nearly emptied you. My dear you have let him take too much._ ”

“No, I have not let him take too much.” Toby snapped scowling. “He hasn’t taken enough!” Toby saw Reyna backing away to watch curiously from a distance. “He’s coming apart, Seed Eater, look at him.” She turned away from him and nosed Nico’s hand. She tried to lick it gently, but her tongue went through it.

“ _This is for the war Slenderman mentioned to me isn’t it._ ” Seed Eater asked looking up at Toby without lifting her head, Toby nodded. “ _I will help him of course. There is a town west of here. Bring me a human I will take their life for your ghost._ ” Toby nodded and sprinted away in the direction Seed Eater had mentioned.

Seed Eater and Reyna watched him go before Seed Eater lay down next to Nico. Carefully she wrapped her birdlike legs around him, pulling him closer to the warmth of her body. She could feel the cold of death on him.

“ _You are one of their allies in this war are you not?_ ” Seed Eater asked Reyna in her soft sweet voice. Reyna nodded. “ _Then you believe that this cause of yours is worth the life of a few bystanders yes?_ ” Reyna hesitated but she nodded again. “ _Good then do not try to stop what is about to happen. I assume you require The Ghost King for this war and at the moment he requires life. I will take it from a human and give it to him. If you wish to see how this is preformed then by all means stay and watch but if you do not desire to I suggest that you go for a walk before Toby returns and wipe this day from your mind._ ”

“I’ll stay.” Reyna said through clenched teeth. She didn’t really want to see this, but she was not going to leave Nico and the unconscious coach Hedge alone with this being. Even if Toby trusted this creature, she didn’t.

“ _Very well._ ” The creature said looking Reyna over for a second time. “ _You will protect what you see as your own. I understand. I would do the same but since the Ghost King is a member of the creeps he is my own as well. You can trust me with him._ ” Reyna didn’t move and Seed Eater inclined her head towards Reyna before laying it on Nico’s chest, humming softly in a way that would keep Nico asleep and listened to his rasping breaths.

It wasn’t long before Toby came back dragging a bound teenager who was squirming against the ropes that tied his arms and legs. Toby snarled as the teenager went limp falling to the forest floor. He was still conscious, just playing ragdoll to make it harder for Toby to move him. Seed Eater looked up as they approached, her dark eyes following the teenage human closely.

“ _Human._ ” She called and now her voice was layered, hypnotic. “ _Human come here. Do not be afraid. Come to me love. Aren’t I everything you’ve ever wanted? Don’t you want to help me?_ ” She crooned and the boy looked up at her, his pupils going wide. Toby cut the ties on his legs and he stumbled to his feet, stumbling towards Seed Eater.

“You are everything I’ve ever wanted.” The boy repeated adoringly. “I would die for you.”

“ _That’s right come to me dearest. Your life is all I need from you and I will show you wonders you have never seen. Things even more beautiful than me._ ” She sang as the boy reached her. She bent her head slightly and let him stroke her mane of soft black hair. He gasped for breath looking into her eyes. On the sideline Reyna looked away momentarily.

“Nothing could be more beautiful than you.” The boy sighed dreamily and Seed Eater purred. Carefully, still humming softly, she lent down, tilting the boys head up with her nose. He didn’t resist and when she sunk her needle sharp fangs into the skin of his throat he let out a gasp of pleasure, his eyes rolling back in his head. Slowly a gold white light started to flow out of the bites in his neck and congregate in Seed Eater's mouth. When her mouth was full she released the boys neck, he let out a weak whimper of protest.

Toby walked over to Nico’s side, propping him up and tilting his head back so that Seed Eater could easily position her mouth over Nico’s. Slowly she let the light drip into Nico’s mouth as he breathed in. Reyna could see it flowing under his skin, chasing the blue tint from his lips. When all of the light was out of Seed Eaters mouth she turned back to the human, biting his neck again.

This time she let the light absorb into her tongue but it didn’t seem to go any farther than that. This time when she let go of the boy, he only gave one final sigh and fell to the ground. Reyna watched for a minute to see if he would breath in again. He didn’t.

Seed Eater licked Nico’s face gently, grooming him like a mother cat. Reyna could almost hear the rasp of her tongue across Nico’s skin as Toby held Nico up. As Seed Eater made her way across Nico’s skin, Reyna could see the edges of his skin begin to firm again where she hadn’t noticed it blurring into shadows. As Seed Eater moved down to Nico’s neck, humming a soft lullaby that made Reyna feel drowsy and would keep Nico asleep, Toby stripped off Nico’s jacket.

Toby held up Nico’s arm one after the other while Seed Eater made her way over them with methodical soothing licks, letting a little bit of the light bleed out of her each time to chase the darkness from Nico’s edges. When she was finished with his arms there was still light left in her mouth, so without hesitation Toby pulled Nico’s shirt up over his head. It didn’t matter in the least to Seed Eater.

She made her way over Nico’s chest and back the same way she had over his arms. Soon there was no more light left in her mouth but Nico’s skin was firm again. The grooming had gotten his blood flowing as well and chased some of the cold out, leaving his body looking alive again. His breathing had settled into a slow steady rhythm and he seemed to be sleeping more than unconscious now.

Seed Eater lay down, settling herself before Toby lay Nico down too. He rested Nico’s head on one of Seed Eater's front legs. She wrapped the other one around Nico's body, tucking him up into her mane as much as she could without worrying about suffocating him.

“I’ll take the body away.” Toby murmured softly. “Where do you want it?”

“ _You know where my cave is._ ” Seed Eater whispered back. “ _Take it there please._ ” Toby nodded and picked up the body of the teenager, slinging it over his shoulders and then striding off.

Seed Eater hummed softly, lulling the sleeping Nico into sweet dreams. She began grooming his hair, she might as well, most of him was already clean by her tongue and his hair was tangled. Besides it seemed to relax him even further, so she continued lazily.

Reyna got coach Hedge down from where he had been tied to the statue and settled him. Seed Eater looked up for a moment sniffing curiously before returning to grooming Nico. Obviously the coach wasn’t very interesting to her.

Toby came jogging back and immediately flopped down next to Seed Eater, leaning against her back. Immediately she twisted her head around and started grooming Toby’s hair instead. He laughed and leaned his head to give her a better angle. She seemed satisfied after about ten minutes and turned away, laying her head down gently on Nico’s, chest again her humming purr increasing in pitch slightly.

“I’m going to need to sleep soon.” Toby said to Reyna as he got up from his place next to Seed Eater and walked over to where Reyna was sitting. “I didn’t get any sleep in Pompeii and like Seed Eater said, Nico’s been relying on my energy a bit too heavily.”

“Right. What was that about?” She asked carefully.

“Nico can use other people's life energy as power if he wants to. A bit like Seed Eater does.” Toby explained. “He doesn’t usually do it though, because it has obvious… consequences for those who’s life is fed on and Nico doesn’t like that. But for reasons neither of us understand I have excess energy all the time so he can take mine with little trouble.

“I think that’s why what you did over the volcano scared him so much. He’s used to being in control of stuff like that.”

“And Nico… needs that?” Reyna asked softly. Toby gave her a sidelong glance.

“It just hit you about what the creeps really are didn’t it? I mean we told you but you didn’t actually believe it 'till now?” Reyna sighed heavily and nodded. “Relax, Nico’s a honorary member more than anything. As far as I know he’s never killed anyone outside of battle and everyone does that, right? Everyone who finds themselves in a battle.”

Reyna relaxed a little. It was true, you would be hard pressed to find a demigod who hadn’t killed someone in battle. Nearly impossible to find one that wouldn’t. “What about you?”

“I’m a creep through and through.” Toby stated bluntly watching Reyna closely. “Not to say that I always wanted to be, or had a choice in becoming one. But I wouldn’t back out now even if I could.”

“Can I ask how it happened or is that a taboo question?” Reyna was very curious but she didn’t want to create any enemies where she didn’t already have them.

“It’s not a safe question with most of the creeps.” Toby admitted. “Laughing Jack might kill anyone who asked that. He doesn’t like to even think about how he was made but I’m less opposed to talking about my origins, especially since Nico.…”. Toby trailed off staring into space.

“How you were made?” Reyna prompted after a couple of minutes. “You weren’t just… born?”

“Well I was of course but I wasn’t born like this.” Toby said waving at one of the axes he had set down in front of him when he sat. “I was born with tourette's, paranoid schizophrenia , and a rare disorder that makes me incapable of feeling pain but no homicidal tendencies.

“My father was disgusted with me, as I grew up I couldn’t remember a time he didn’t beat my mother. He would tell me it was my fault. That she needed to be punished for giving birth to something like me. My sister would try to defend me and he would beat her too. When I was about fourteen my sister tried to take me and run... but she was too scared and stressed and she wasn’t driving carefully enough so we crashed.

“I should have been the one to die but I wasn’t. She died in the hospital and my father wasn’t there, the unreal was right after I got out of the hospital. My father should have been there but he wasn’t. When we got home things went right back to the way they had been... except now my sister wasn’t there to defend me and my father didn’t even seem to miss her.

“At first I just meant to run away but I couldn’t leave my mother alone with my father. The voices in my head had been telling me to kill him for months anyway so I let them take over and did what they wanted me too. The police report says I stabbed him nearly forty times. After that I ran. I grabbed gasoline and matches from my father's garage and when I got into the woods I tried to burn myself to death. I couldn’t feel the pain after all, so I wouldn’t be tempted to leave the fire.

“Slenderman saved me, or damned me depending on the way you look at it but either way he took me out of the fire. It was a while after that until I was fully sentient again and by then I was so deep in this life there was no getting out. I didn’t want to die anymore, it was like having a family again. I still only kill when Slenderman tells me to though, or on the rare occasion when I have to for Nico.”

Reyna didn’t say anything. When Toby looked over at her he saw that she was deep in thought. She glanced up at him when she felt his eyes on her and gave a tight smile.

“I understand that better than I’d like to.” She explained shortly. Toby didn’t ask for an explanation. She would give it whenever she was ready to, to him or someone else, it wasn’t his place to pry. “Now go to sleep.” Reyna said flapping a hand at him. “You’re right, I didn’t take a watch in Pompeii and you should rest. We’ll need to get going again as soon as Nico wakes up, if he’s taking energy from you, you need to replenish yours.”

Toby nodded and curled up, pulling his hood over his head and using his arm as a pillow. Reyna looked up and noticed Seed Eater watching the two of them closely. Reyna met her eyes, slightly hypnotized by the how dark they were in comparison to her bone white face. Seed Eater looked away and Reyna was glad she had, Reyna wasn’t sure she would have been able to look away herself. Seed Eater closed her eyes relaxing completely, Reyna watched Seed Eater's breathing, even and slow. The purring hum falling quiet as Seed Eater slipped into sleep as well, leaving Reyna the only one awake.

(POV change: Seed Eater (I know this is highly irregular but I want to do a thing))

When Seed Eater slipped into sleep she slipped out of her mind and into the one of the young man beneath her head. It was not a thing she did very often, but once she had perfected both her telepathic abilities and her tendency to lucid dreams she had learned how do this. Mostly she used it to relay instructions to the humans who served her without having to endanger herself by going to close to the human world. Now however, she could use it to get to know the newest member of the group she could no longer remember joining. It seemed it had just always been so.

Once asleep she found herself in a hellish landscape of red mist and fire. The ground looked like blistered skin and shadows moved everywhere. Everything but their outlines hidden by the strange fog. As she stood she could feel the air blistering her skin and the heat pressing into her lungs. Looking around she spotted the only human looking figure standing by a true river of fire. She trotted towards the human until she was close enough to see that it was indeed the Ghost King, kneeling down to dip is hand into the fire.

“ _Ghost King?_ ” She called curiously. He looked up at her, drawing his hand out of the fire and reaching for the sword at his belt before he hesitated and stood.

“Seed Eater?” He asked, his eyes were dark and hollow.

“ _Yes._ ” She confirmed dipping her head. “ _I’m sorry to interrupt your dreams but it didn’t sound like we would get a chance to meet properly while you were awake. Besides it doesn’t look like a good dream anyway._ ” She pointed out looking around them.

“It isn’t a dream.” The Ghost King said staring across the river of fire unseeing. “It’s a memory.” Then he looked back at her and smiled half-heartedly. “I’m sorry you had to see it. I wouldn’t wish most of my memories on my worst enemy. Come on, now that I know this is a dream I should be able to find a nicer place for us.” He lead the way a little ways down the river bank and soon the fire faded. Instead they were by the shore of a small lake Seed Eater recognized as the one by Slenderman's mansion.

“Much better.” The Ghost King said smiling at the water more fervently now. “By the way, most of the creeps have been calling me Ghost. It’s quicker than my full title, less formal too. I’ve never been one for formalities.”

“ _Very well Ghost._ ” Seed Eater said sitting down on the soft grass. “ _It is a pleasure to meet you._ ”

“And you.” Ghost replied warmly.

“ _Will you tell me a bit about yourself?_ ” Seed Eater asked laying down and crossing one scaled claw over the other. “ _For instance where did you get your name? I am called Seed Eater because I consume the seed of life in humans to keep myself alive and young._ ”

“I’m called the Ghost King because it’s what I am.” Ghost said with a shrug. “There are many gods in this world, I happen to be the son of the god of the underworld, the world of the dead. I am the prince of the underworld as well. But my father doesn’t have time to deal with the spirits that choose to stay on Earth so I command them. I took the title when I was twelve and destroyed Minos, the one who wrongfully held the title before me.”

“ _That is a very interesting story._ ” Seed Eater agreed nodding. “ _The dead obey you?_ ”

“Yes. Though that is a broad statement, there are some who won’t. A few who were loyal to Minos, more who are Roman and will not obey me because I’m a Greek.” Ghost explained shrugging. “But no ability is perfect right?”

“ _That is true._ ” Seed Eater conceded. “ _I have the ability to control humans telepathically but there will always be those strong willed ones who will slip out of my control._ ” Ghost nodded smiling at her slightly.

“Control is hard to maintain all the time.” He agreed, glaring at a crack in the dream that had just opened revealing the red landscape underneath as if to prove the point. Ghost clapped his hands and the crack closed.

“ _You said that was a memory?_ ” Seed Eater remembered curiously.

“Indeed. It is Tartarus, the only thing worse than the fields of punishment in the underworld. Tartarus is the dreams of the original god of chaos and depravity, possibly the root of the Christian idea of Satan. I don’t know. I spent nearly a month there attempting to find the doors of death after they were forced open months ago.”

“ _Ah yes I heard that story too._ ” Seed Eater said recalling when Slenderman had come to inform her that the veil between life and death was thin and they might have some trouble making the humans they killed stay dead. “ _Toby tells me you and he are a couple now?_ ”

“We are. We have been for almost ten months now. He means the world to me.” Ghost admitted. Seed Eater nodded approvingly.

“ _Time moves strangely in dreams. You should wake up soon_.”

“I know.” Ghost agreed sighing deeply. “There are duties I must fulfill as always. You know after saving the world this time I really hope it stays saved for a while. If not I may just leave it to someone else to save it. I’m tired of swooping in at the last minute to save a bunch of idiot demigods who usually forget to be grateful about two days after I save them.”

Without a word Seed Eater rested her head on Ghost's shoulder, humming softly until he calmed and relaxed. Once he was fully relaxed he woke up and Seed Eater followed him into the waking world. Once they were both awake neither of them moved for another few minutes, both getting to know the others energy now that they were awake.

It was Seed Eater who moved first. Lifting her head up off ghost's chest and letting him sit up. She saw that the small goat man that had been unconscious when they fell asleep was awake again, and appeared to be cooking something. Toby was awake too and eating something, Reyna was leaning against a tree dozing.

“How are you feeling Nico?” Toby asked. Seed Eater guessed that Nico was Ghost's human name.

“Much better.” Nico or Ghost said grinning at Toby. “Thank you. I don’t want to hear about how this was achieved though, I have a feeling I know and I don’t want it confirmed.” Toby grinned at Nico sheepishly. Seed Eater took note that Ghost seemed to be against killing on his account. Well she supposed maybe if she could see and communicate with those she killed she might be too, that must be uncomfortable.


	12. Lack of Understanding

(POV Toby)

Nico overshot their next shadow jump and passed out. They ended up on top of a building, but it turned out okay. Coach Hedge grabbed Reyna before she could fall and Toby was dexterous enough to get a grip on the Athena Parthenon, lowering himself and dropping the one story to the ground without any injury. It was the coach that climbed back up to get Nico down.

Nico was mumbling in his sleep. None of them could catch anything until he suddenly murmured “Clovis!” In a slightly louder, very exasperated voice. Toby started laughing immediately making Reyna and Hedge look at him curiously. 

“Clovis is a child of Hypnos.” Toby explained. “I know about him because Nico gets updates while he’s away from camp from Clovis through their dreams. But sometimes when Nico tried to get places in his dreams he just ends up there. I think that’s what happened there.”

“Okay.” Reyna said with a tight smile. “Now where are we?” They all looked around. They had no idea, the best hint came from the language that the few people in the park around them were speaking. “It’s almost Spanish. But not quite.” Reyna said tilting her head in confusion. 

“Isn’t that kinda like Portuguese?” Toby asked “Spanish but not quite?” Hedge and Reyna looked at him. He looked away with a shrug.

“It’s the best guess we have right now.” Reyna sighed. “Either way it looks like we’re staying for a bit. Coach?”

“I’ll take first watch.” Hedge started. “You and Toby can get some shut eye if you want, I’m going to try some busking!” Reyna shook her head in tired amazement, then looked at Toby.

“I couldn’t sleep if I tried right now.” Toby said shoving his hands in his pocket, shrugged and twitched. Tourettes was supposed to fade with age, he wondered what had gone wrong with him. “If coach’s awake I might do some exploring, see if I know anyone in the area, but I won’t go far.” 

“Sure.” Reyna said shrugging and then lay down making herself comfortable on the grass. She hadn’t managed to get much sleep before Nico had woken up and they had decided it was time to get going again. Now she fell asleep again quickly.

Toby stuck around for a bit longer to watch Hedge busk. It was very entertaining and he soon drew a small crowd. After that, Toby made sure the bandage covering his scar was there and secure and then wandered off. He didn’t really expect to know anyone around here, but it didn’t take him long to find signs that Skin Taker had taken this area as a hunting ground. Toby ignored them, he didn’t get along with Skin Taker very well and he didn’t think Nico or Reyna would either.

Toby lost track of how long he walked and then realized he was very lost. He had forgotten that this wasn’t like Slender’s woods where he could walk as far as he wanted and still be able to get home easily when he wanted to. By the time he got back the sun was up.

“I thought you weren’t going far.” Hedge greeted Toby in amusement. “Or did you find someone you know?”

“I got lost. Didn’t see a sign of anyone I wanted talk to.” Toby explained. Looking around the park he noticed Nico wasn’t there. “Where’s Nico?”

“Off doing his underworld thing.” Hedge said gesturing vaguely. “A fiery ghost thing showed up about an hour before dawn. When he woke up he followed it. It wasn’t that long ago, you can probably still catch up to him if you want to. They went that way.” Coach Hedge pointed towards an archway to a alley.

“Thanks.” Toby said and took off after Nico. When he had Nico in sight he stayed back a little bit. As the coach had said, Nico was doing his ‘underworldy thing’ his aura had gotten strong enough that animals and humans wouldn’t go near him. He was following some sort of ghost that was outlined in fire. When the ghost walked through a wall of a building that looked like a church Nico hesitated, pacing in front of the door like a caged animal twice before following the specter into the building through the door. 

Toby wasn’t sure whether he should follow Nico in there or not. Nico was the Ghost King, this was his thing, but through the course of the trip Toby had started to think of himself as just as much Nico’s proxy as Slenderman's, and in that case it was Toby’s job to accompany and protect him. He hadn’t told Nico that though, he knew Nico wouldn’t like it. He still didn’t understand Toby’s world well enough to accept it.

Hesitantly Toby compromised by going to the doorway. He stayed outside but now he could hear from the echoes what was happening inside. He peaked around the door frame into the room long enough to see that it was one of the bone cathedrals many of the creeps spoke very highly of. He saw a tall man appear next to Nico and he ducked back out of sight.

“A beautiful room isn’t it?” Toby heard the man ask.

“Getting some redecorating ideas?” Nico asked cooly, not at all surprised by the man's appearance. Whoever he was Nico seemed to know him. “Maybe you could do your dining room in medieval monk skulls.”

“I can never tell when you’re joking.” The man commented softly. His voice was smooth and dark, pleasant to listen to.

“Why are you here father? How are you here?” Nico asked and Toby started. That man was Nico’s father. Wasn’t Nico’s father Hades, the lord of the underworld, did that mean that Hades was?

“You’re a hard mortal to find son. For several days I’ve been searching. When the scepter of Diocletian exploded… well, that got my attention.” Hades commented humorlessly. 

“Breaking the scepter wasn’t my fault.” Nico objected and started to explain but Hades cut him off.

“Oh, the scepter isn’t important. A relic of old, I’m surprised you got any use out of it.” Hades said grandly. “The explosion simply gave me a moment of clarity. It allowed me to pinpoint your location. I was hoping to speak to you in Pompeii but it was just so… Roman. This chapel was the first place my presence was that I could appear to you as myself – by which I mean Hades, god of death, not split with that other manifestation.

“I am very drawn to this place. The remains of thousands of monks were used to build this Cathedral of Bones. It serves as a reminder that life is short and death is eternal. I feel very focused here. Even so I only have a few moments.”

“So tell me father.” Nico said cooly and respectfully. “What do you want?” 

“Can you entertain the notion that I might be here to help you? Not simply because I want something?” Hades sighed heavily.

“I can entertain the notion that you might be here for multiple reasons.” Nico replied and Toby was surprised to hear some humor in Nico’s voice. None the less, he was obviously very serious. 

“I suppose that’s fair enough.” Hades said heavily. “You seek information about Gaia’s hunter. His name is Orion.” There was a small silence. Toby tried to figure out what was happening, he thought Orion was a group of stars. How could a group of stars be hunting them? If there was a legend about it he didn’t know or remember it.

”Orion. Like the constellation? Wasn’t he… a friend of Artemis?” Nico asked. Okay so obviously there was a legend.

”He was.” Hades acknowledged. “A giant, born to be the opposite of the twins, Apollo and Artemis, but much like Artemis, Orion rejected his destiny. He sought to live on his own terms. First he tried to live among mortals as a huntsman for the king of Khios. He, ah, ran into some trouble with the king's daughter. The king had Orion blinded and exiled.”

“My friend dreamed of the hunter with glowing eyes. If Orion is blind-“

“Was blind.” Hades interrupted. “Shortly after his exile Orion met Hephaestus, who took pity on the giant and crafted him new mechanical eyes even better than the originals.” Toby wondered if that god, Hephaestus could build him a new nervous system. “Orion became friends with Artemis. He became the first male ever allowed to join her Hunt. But… things went wrong between them. How exactly, I do not know. Orion was slain. Now he has returned as a loyal son of Gaia, ready to do her bidding. He was driven bitter with anger. You can understand that.”

There was a heavy silence. Toby wondered what Hades was talking about. He was starting to realize just how little of Nico’s world and life Toby understood, or even knew.

“How do we stop him?” Nico asked leaving whatever anger Toby was sure he had unspoken.

“You cannot.” Hades replied bluntly. “Your only hope is to outrun him, accomplish your quest before he reaches you. Apollo or Artemis might be able to slay him, arrow against arrow, but the twins are in no condition to aid you. You won’t have the luxury of more rest from here to camp Half-Blood.”

Toby felt a twist of anger. Nico needed rest! Even with the amount of rest he had, he was killing himself to complete this quest! What more could the gods possibly ask of Nico!? 

“I need to get back to my companions.” Nico said quickly, worry evident in his tone. Toby felt even more anger build up in him, wasn’t Nico even a little worried about himself? Couldn’t he be just a little more careful with his own life?

“Indeed.” Hades agreed quickly. “But there is more. Your sister.” Hades voice caught with grief and Toby realized he must have thought of Bianca. Hades cleared his throat and continued. “I mean your other sister, Hazel… she has discovered that one of the seven will die. She may try to prevent this. In doing so she may lose sight of her priorities.”

“Is Hazel alright?” Nico asked after a momentary silence.

“For the moment.”

“And the others? Who will die?”

“Even if I were certain I could not say.” Hades said, deflected the question. “I tell you this because you are my son. You understand that some deaths cannot be prevented. Some deaths should not be prevented. When the time comes, you may need to act.”

“I understand.” Nico sighed and there was another long silence.

“My son.” Hades said and his voice took on a new caring tone. “Whatever happens, you have earned my respect. You brought honor to our house when we stood together against Kronos in Manhattan. You risked my wrath to help that Jackson boy. Guiding him to the river Styx, freeing him from my prison, pleading with me to raise the armies of Erebos to assist him. Never before have I been more harassed by one of my children. Percy this and Percy that. I nearly blasted you to cinders.”

Toby felt an unwelcome twist of jealousy but he pushed it away. Anyway you looked at it Nico had chosen him, not Percy.

“I didn’t just do it for him.” Nico objected. “I did it because the whole world was in danger.

“I can entertain the possibility that you acted for many reasons.” Hades joked. "My point is this: you and I rose to aid Olympus because you convinced me to let go of my anger. I would encourage you to do likewise. My children are rarely happy. I… I would like to see you be an exception. Even if the one who makes you happy is that Toby boy.” Toby winced when he heard the way Nico’s father spit his name.

“It sounds like it’s a good thing I don’t ask your opinion on my relationships.” Nico laughed and Hades scoffed, then cleared his throat.

“Ah yes this is Brother Paloan. He’s one of the hundreds who were burned alive in the square near the old Roman temple. The Inquisition had its headquarters there you know. At any rate, he suggest you and your eaves-dropping boy leave now. You have little time before the wolves arrive.”

“Wolves? You mean Orion’s pack?” Nico asked. He hadn’t balked at all at the mention that Toby was listening. Had they both known? 

“My son, what you are attempting… shadow-traveling across the world, carrying the statue of Athena… it may well destroy you.” Hades murmured softly, though the echo still carried it to Toby’s ears.

“That’s for the encouragement.” Nico snapped and then there was a moment of silence in which Toby could not see what was happening.

“I will see you again.” Hades promised. “I will prepare a room for you at the palace in case you do not survive. Perhaps your chambers would look good decorated with the skulls of monks.”

“Now I can’t tell if you’re joking.” Nico half laughed.

“Then perhaps we are alike in some important ways.” Hades said. There was a small whooshing noise and then silence

“Toby he’s gone. You can come in now.” Nico called after a moment and Toby slunk into the bone Cathedral shame faced. Nico was staring up at the architecture his expression unreadable.

“We, the bones that are here, await yours.” Nico said pointing at words written above the door that Toby hadn’t noticed. Toby shivered. “I’ve often looked forward to the day I could die and join my father in the underworld permanently.” Nico sighed dropping his arm down to his side. “Now I’m not sure again. So many people I want to save that I can’t save.” Nico sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. Toby wasn’t sure if he could approach Nico or not. When Nico looked up again his eyes were dark, hollow and sad.

“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t such a true child of the underworld. Sometimes I wish I truly believed the judgment of the underworld was avoidable. Or at least didn’t know what they were likely to be.” Nico pressed his hand against the forehead of one the skulls staring out from the wall. Toby didn’t say anything. “Anyway we need to go before the wolves arrive.” He lead the way out of the cathedral and back to his friends since Toby had managed to forget the way again.

When they got back, Reyna and coach Hedge were having lunch. Nico and Toby joined them even though neither of them were very enthusiastic. Nico seemed to have lost his brief appetite and Toby was busy trying to figure out what Nico had said in the church. Nico recounted what had happened in the church with a few edits.

“Most wolves are friendly to Romans.” Reyna pointed out. Toby gave up on trying to figure things out for now. “I’ve never heard of Orion hunting with a pack.”

"It could have been a figure of speech.” Nico suggested pushing away his half eaten sandwich. ”Very little time before the wolves arrive.” "Perhaps Hades didn’t literally mean wolves. At any rate, we should leave as soon as it’s dark enough for shadows.” Nico seemed to get lost in his thought after that.

“So will Camp Half-Blood wait until August first, or will they attack first?” Reyna asked jarring Nico out of wherever his mind had wandered to.

“We have to hope they wait, we can’t… I can’t get the statue back any faster.” Nico said. Toby noticed that Nico didn’t mention that Hades had said he still might not survive. Nico and Reyna kept talking mentioning people Toby didn’t know and things Toby didn’t understand, a lot about wolves. The only thing Toby really understood was when Reyna told Nico that the greatest burden lay on him, it made Toby want to punch her. He knew Nico wouldn’t like that though, so instead Toby shifted closer to Nico and wrapped an arm around his shoulders glaring at Reyna surreptitiously.

Silence stretched out, Nico looked like he might be sick. He looked away from them, but in reality Toby knew Nico was just looking away from the entire world around them. He wished he could know where Nico was looking instead.

“Nico.” Reyna prompted softly. “How can we help you?” Nico blinked in shock and looked back up at Reyna.

“I’m not sure. You’ve already let me rest as much as possible. That’s important.” Nico said it as if it was something he didn’t deserve, it made Toby angry at everything. “Perhaps lend me your strength. This next jump will be the longest. I’ll have to muster enough strength to get us across the Atlantic.”

“You’ll succeed.” Reyna said sounding more confident than Toby thought any of them really felt. “Once we’re back in the U.S. we should encounter fewer monsters. I might even be able to get help from retired legionnaires along the eastern seaboard. They are obligated to help any Roman demigods who call on them.”

“If Octavian hasn’t already won them over. In which case, you might find yourself arrested for treason.” Hedge pointed out. Toby felt Nico tense. He had heard a lot about Octavian.

“If you get the chance you’ll kill him, won’t you?” Toby whispered in Nico’s ear so soft the others couldn’t hear. He had never known Nico to want to kill anyone but Nico nodded now, Toby gave his shoulders a small squeeze. 

The rest of the conversation was interrupted by the wolves arrival. Toby realized how glad he was with Nico and Reyna. They snapped into combat mode faster than even most of the creepypastas. He could see Nico’s mind moving 100 miles a minute.

“Coach can you climb?” Nico asked and once he received confirmation continued briskly. “Get up to the statue and secure the rigging. Make a rope ladder and drop it down for the rest of us.”

“But the wolves.” Hedge started and Nico cut him off.

“Reyna and her dogs will have to cover our retreat. Toby I need you with me.

“Understood.” Reyna responded grimly and turned to face the wolves.

“You can’t stop us.” The wolf called Lycaon snarled. Nico didn’t bother to answer, instead he spread his hands out over the earth and it erupted, bones forming cages around all the wolves. Suddenly Toby was very worried, that was a lot of power Nico had just used and he would be using more to jump soon. Even more than he usually used on jumps because it was day time and there were no shadows dark enough to be a proper door.

“Coach go!” Nico yelled and Hedge, who had apparently been stunned by the show of power, snapped into motion running towards the temple thing. When a few of the wolves broke through Toby tried to lunge into the fight but Nico yanked him back. “Don’t. You can’t do anything you’ll just get yourself killed.”

“Go I’ll cover you.” Reyna yelled at the two of them and Nico dragged Toby with him. After a second of hesitation Toby began running under his own power as well. Nico scooped up a knife from the ground as he ran, the one Reyna had dropped, the silver plated one.

“Hurry.” Nico yelled at Hedge.

“Oh really? I thought we had tons of time.” The coach yelled back and Toby snared up at him. Now was not the time for goat sarcasm. He looked back at Nico and saw him watching the fight, again he could almost see his thoughts racing

“Reyna get up here!” He yelled and Reyna ran to them immediately. It was important insinuations like this to obey commands coming from anyone on your own team. Toby was impressed when Reyna vaulted up onto the roof.

“What’s the plan?” She demanded

“Show off.” Nico mumbled, obviously he was less impressed.

“Climb you silly non-goats!” The coach yelled and Toby felt the pressure, if not the pain, of the knotted rope falling on his head. He grabbed it and held it out to Nico.

“Go, both of you.” Nico ordered shaking his head. “Once you’re up there, hang on tight to the rope.”

“Nico-“ Reyna started.

“Do it.” Nico snapped and she grabbed the rope climbing up quickly.

“But you need-” Toby started still hesitant but Nico practically snarled at him.

“No! You’d get in the way. Up!” Nico snapped. Toby felt the words like, what he imagined stab wounds must feel to people who could feel pain, but he obeyed. He grabbed the rope and started up after Reyna, reaching the top quickly and holding on tight.

“You will suffer son of Hades.” Lycaon yelled as he broke free of the last of his bone cage. Fear gripped Toby’s throat and made it impossible for him to breath. He looked down and saw that Nico was standing his ground looking determined, probably too full of adrenalin to be scared. Toby prayed Nico knew what he was doing, though he had no idea who he was praying to.

Nico grabbed one of the ropes as the wolf man leapt at him. Toby yelped when he saw it’s claws sink into Nico’s arms, but Nico didn’t yell, instead he snarled again.

“Be a good dog.” He spat into the wolf king's face. “Back to shadows.” And indeed Toby watched as the wolf collapsed into a pool of darkness and then snapped his eyes closed as the familiar cold rush of shadow travel overtook them. Nico had been right. If Toby had stayed below with him he would have gotten in the way. His instincts wouldn’t have let him do otherwise. That realization almost made him want to cry but he didn’t, as soon as they were out of the shadows Nico would need him. There was no doubt that Nico had used too much of his power, he would need a energy boost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't be updating very often if at all for the rest of this month because I'm doing NaNoWriMo. Sorry about this I'll be back full swing in December. See Y'all then!


	13. There is No Mercy

They materialized a few feet away from the waters edge. Nico blinked around the land disbelievingly.

“I did it.” He croaked going limp in his harness. “I got us across the ocean." He hadn’t totally believed he could, but he had done it and now he was empty. His nerve endings seemed to have shut down but maybe he was just too cold to feel. “I did it.”

“Of course you did, love.” Toby said from somewhere beside Nico, though he couldn’t lift his head to look. “You’re the only one who doubted yourself. Well and maybe the goat.” Toby half crooned as he untangled Nico from the ropes and picked him up. Nico’s head dropped back and now he was looking into Toby’s worried face. “Do you feel tired?”

“I don’t think so.” Nico mumbled finding it a little hard to move his lips. He smiled slightly. “I don’t feel much of anything.” Toby looked even more worried. He kneeled down and rested Nico on the ground still cradling his upper body.

“You were supposed to use my energy for the jump.” Toby chided softly. “Take it now.” He leaned down and kissed Nico and Nico accepted it. With a little more energy he started to shiver. He could feel the cold now and he didn’t welcome it. He tried to cling to Toby but his fingers went through the cloth of Toby’s shirt again.

“I’m scared.” Nico admitted in a whisper so the others couldn’t hear. “I’m scared.” He couldn’t think of anything else to say. How could he express everything he was scared about? He was scared for Hazel, he was scared for the camps that were at war, he was scared about Gaia, he was scared he would melt into darkness forever and loose himself, he was scared that if he died the statue would never get to the camps, he was scared the camps would destroy each other. But most of all he was scared of the future of his and Toby’s relationship. Because they would both probably die young and when they did they wouldn’t end up in the same place.

“You’re going to be okay.” Toby said. Promising Nico something he couldn’t possibly know. Nico made himself curl up into a ball and Toby gathered Nico up, pressing Nico against his larger, warmer, body. Nico was to tired to cry so instead he went to sleep. When he woke up he insisted they move on quickly. He did not want to think, better to move. This time the jump was shorter, he got them to a small town near Reyna’s home he thought. Then he passed out again.

Nico woke up alone and disoriented without quite knowing where he was or when. It wasn’t long before Toby returned, seeing him calmed Nico down and centered him immediately. Nico blinked at the shirt Toby was wearing. That loud bird patterned shirt was definitely not what he had been wearing when Nico had gone to sleep.

“Nice.” He said sarcastically eyeing the floral pattern.

“I know right.” Toby said grinning. Nico was sure he had heard the sarcasm and was ignoring it. “I got one for you too.” He held out the red floral shirt to Nico and Nico balked. “Look at your shirt Nico. It hardly counts as a shirt anymore, you need something else. We’ll find you a new shirt, and a new jacket later I promise.”

Nico looked down at himself and realized Toby was right. Both his shirt and jacket could be used for nothing but bandages now. He sighed regretfully but took the shirt anyway and changed into it. At least his black pants offset it a little so he looked less like a tourist and more like a hipster. Though neither was by any means ideal.

Suddenly there was a loud noise almost like an explosion. Nico leapt to his feet suddenly awake with adrenalin coursing through his veins. He looked around quickly and there was another loud noise.

“Where’s Reyna?” He half yelled at Coach Hedge when he noticed she wasn’t there. He had mostly assumed she had just gone for a walk but if there was trouble they needed to know where she was.

“The Hunters-” The coach started but he didn’t get more out before Nico was drawing his sword with a snarl. Both Toby and the coach flinched back.

“I trust the hunters with the life of someone I cared about before. The results made me unlikely to do it again.” Then there was shouting from out front of the building. Nico glanced out and spotted a man he assumed was Orion from the eyes.

“My death means nothing.” He heard Reyna tell him, but she was wrong. Her death did mean something.

“Distraction.” He hissed at Toby and the Coach and then bolted towards the stairs. He reached the balcony a second after he heard coach Hedge yelling his traditional “DIE!” Nico saw as the coach hit Orion on the back of the head with his club, and then catapulted himself over the railing of the balcony.

He twisted in midair and landed in front of Orion as he had planned and swung his sword, neatly severing Orion’s taut bow string. He leapt back as it recoiled snapping against Orion’s nose. Nico snarled in satisfaction. Had Orion not already lost his eyes that probably would have blinded him.

Nico spotted Thalia and a woman he didn’t recognize trying to convince Reyna to leave. He went over to her, grabbing the coach by the back of his shirt and dragging him along. The coach didn’t want to leave the fight as usual. Toby at least seemed to understand it was time to leave and jogged to catch up with them.

Ghosts. He could feel a lot of them nearby and he turned towards them. There they were, on the balcony, oh, a home. Many of them. He could hear their whispers but their attention wasn’t focused on him but rather on… Reyna.

“No.” She whimpered, drawing back. Nico took her arm comfortingly.

“Reyna who are they? What do they-“ He started but Reyna cut him off.

“I can’t.” She said softly. Nico blinked in surprise, he had never heard her sound so pleading. “I-I can’t.”

“That’s alright.” Nico soothed automatically. The creeps got like this sometimes when times in their pasts were mentioned. They were too painful to talk about so Nico had learned to tiptoe around them. “We’ll get you out of here.” He promised glancing back at the balcony. He couldn’t see the ghosts there anymore but he could still feel them. “Let’s move.”

Toby took Reyna’s other arm also recognizing this state and helped Nico lead her back to the restaurant as quickly as they could. She seemed dazed so they worked around her preparing quickly to leave with Thalia’s help. It was only a minute before they were ready to go.

“Hold on to her.” Nico directed Toby and he nodded. Holding Reyna tightly so she wouldn’t slip away as they traveled. Nico slipped into the harness and coach Hedge clambered on with their bags. “Thank you.” Nico directed at Thalia quickly.

“You’re welcome.” She snapped in a no-nonsense way. “Now go!” And Nico did. It was getting easier to slip into the shadows. Too easy, and harder to get out, but he managed it.

When they landed Nico slept again. He slept for a day and a half and woke up feeling okay. He stretched out his sore and stiff muscles. Chatting with Toby and coach Hedge as he did so. Toby had made sure Nico ate. Now Nico had been convinced to go with Toby and the coach on a store run because they wanted junk food. Reyna had been given a tent by the hunters, complete with a banquet table but it only provided healthy food.

That worked just fine for Nico because there were plenty of fruits and vegetables and other light things like that. So far those were still the only things that both his shrunken stomach and his burning throat would allow him to eat. Recently he had been eating a lot of slightly warm vegetable soup which the table was happy to provide for him. That had been working well as far as he was concerned.

The walk back was his favorite part of the trip. He lifted his face to the sun, letting Toby take his hand and lead him so he could close his eyes and let the sun chase away some of the shadows under his skin. After they had first landed, right after he had woken up when coach Hedge had been trying to convince him to come, Nico had been walking away shouting over his shoulder. He hadn’t even noticed he walked through the tree at first, it was Toby’s shocked expression that clued him in that something was wrong.

When he realized what had happened he had first collapsed in a miniature fit of despair. He had never been this bad before. His fingers, or entire hands might go through things, but never his entire body. Toby had rushed to him but Nico waved the concern away and agreed to come along. That was probably why he was feeling a bit better today if he was honest with himself. Like how people who were freezing started to feel warm before they died.

It was easy to find their way back to camp. Sometimes traveling with a overly large statue had advantages. They had been dumped at the site of some old battle that Nico didn’t know very much about. Or want to for that matter. He knew there were a lot of dead under the ground here and he didn’t want anything to do with them just now. The call of the underworld was already to strong for him.

When they got back they found Reyna sitting cross legged and quiet just outside her tent watching Aurum and Argentum play. It would have been pictures if it wasn't for how morose Reyna looked. Toby had told Nico she had been like that ever since they arrived.

“I figured it out?” Reyna said as they got closer.

“What historical site this is?” Toby asked and Reyna nodded.

“Good cause it’s been bothering me.” The coach huffed.

“The battle of Waxhaws.” Reyna said.

“Ah right..” The coach said nodding. “Vicious little smack down.” He seemed very certain about that but Nico was less sure. None of the dead he could feel were restless. Amongst those who died in battle there were always at least a few restless and angry ones.

“Are you sure?” Nico asked and it was reyna who answered.

“In 1780. The American revolution. Most of the Colonial leaders were Greek demigods. The British generals were Roman demigods.” She seemed sure. Nico was even more confused.

“I’m always finding new ways demigods shaped human history.” Toby commented, opening a bag of chips. “Aren’t human’s responsible for any of our own history?” Nico gave him a exasperated look but couldn’t help but smile. He went to sit next to Reyna, leaving Toby to his chips.

“Because England was like Roma back then. A rising empire.” Nico stated, watching Reyna pick up and start fiddling with a half dead bouquet of flowers.

“I think I know why we landed here. It’s my fault.” Reyna said softly.

“Oh come on.” Hedge snorted. “The Buford Zippy Mart isn’t anyone fault. Those things just happen.” Nico had forgotten that’s what the store was called, he hadn’t been paying attention.

“During the Revolution, four hundred Americans got overtaken by the British cavalry. The Colonial troops tried to surrender, but the British were out for blood. They massacred the Americans even after they threw down their weapons. Only a few survived.” Reyna rambled distractedly playing with the flowers.

Now Nico was even more confused by the lack of restless, angry, dead but it wasn’t the most important thing right now. The most important thing was that Reyna was in pain. Maybe the link between them was beginning to run both ways, because he at least felt like he could feel her pain. Like he knew she did his every now and then.

“Reyna, how is this your fault?” He asked softly.

“The British commander was Banastre Tarleton.” Reyna stated.

“I’ve heard of him. Crazy dude. They called him Benny the butcher.” Hedge snorted. Nico glared at him.

“Sounds like he would have been one of my friends.” Toby stated and Nico turned his glare on Toby when Reyna flinched. Toby shrunk a little and shrugged apologetically. Nico rolled his eyes.

“Yes…” Reyna said. “He was a son of Bellona.” She said curling in on herself slightly.

“Oh.” Toby sounded and suddenly he was on his feet grabbing Hedge's arm. “Come on let’s go fight.” He insisted and dragged the protesting coach away. Nico smiled appreciatively at the back of Toby’s head and settled more comfortably next to Reyna.

“So you think you were drawn here because you have some sort of connection to the ghosts? Like what happened in San Juan?”

“I don’t want to talk about San Juan.” She said softly after a pause.

“You should.” Nico told her softly. “The main thing about ghosts is- most of them have lost their voice. In Asphodel, millions of them wander aimlessly, trying to remember who they were. You know they end up like that? Because in life they never took a stand one way or another. They never spoke out, so they were never heard. Your voice is your identity. If you don’t use it, you're halfway to Asphodel already.”

“Is that your idea of a pep talk?” Reyna asked scowling at him. Nico blinked if shock, maybe it was. He didn’t think it had worked but after a long silence Reyna did start talking again. “The ghosts in San Juan… they were my ancestors.” Another pause, Nico waited.

“The Ramirez-Arellano family goes back a long way, I don’t know the whole story.” She continued. “My ancestors lived in Spain when it was a Roman province. My great-great-something-something-grandfather was a conquistador. He came over to Puorto Rico with Ponce de Leon.”

“One of the ghosts on the bancony was wearing conquistador armor.” Nico recalled.

“That’s him.” Reyna confirmed.

“So.. is your whole family descended from Bellona? I thought you and Hylla were her daughters, not legacies.” He winced when he realized he had mentioned Hylla. A fleeting look of despair crossed Reyna’s face but it was gone almost as quickly as it came.

“We are her daughters.” Reyna confirmed. “We’re the first actual children of Bellona in the Ramirez-Arellano family. And Ballona has always favoured our clan. Millennia ago she decreed that we would play pivotal roles in many battles.”

Nico stayed quiet for the most part and let Reyna talk about her family. Until she declared that she couldn’t do it anymore. A long silence stretched out between them and Nico realized he was going to have to be the one to break it.

“My father gave me a present once.” Nico started. “It was a zombie.”

“What?” Reyna asked blinking at him in confusion.

“His name was Jules-Albert. He’s French.”

“A… French Zombie?”

“Hades isn’t the greatest dad, but occasionally, he has moments when he wants to get to know me. I guess he thought of the zombie as a peace offering. He said Jules-Albert could be my chauffeur.” Nico explained, he could see Reyna starting to smile.

“A French zombie chauffeur.” She asked and he smiled slightly without looking at her. He had picked this story to lighten the mood.

“Hades had this idea that I should, you know, try to act like a modern teenager. Make friends. Get to know the twenty-first century. He vaguely understood that mortal parents drive their kids around a lot. He couldn’t do that. So his solution was a zombie.”

“To take you to that mall. Or the drive though at In-And-Out Burger.” Reyna said her smile becoming more obvious.

“I suppose.” Nico said shrugging. “Because nothing helps you make friends faster than a rotting corpse with a French accent.”

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t make fun.” Reyna said and Nico shrugged.

“The point is. I don’t like talking about my father either. But sometimes you have to.” He met Reyna’s eyes squarely.

Reyna glared at him but she seemed to give in. Again she started talking and Nico started to put the pieces together. It was funny how much her story was like Toby’s except that Reyna had still had her sister. Nico wondered how much would have had to be different it would have had to be for him to have met her through the creeps rather than the Romans.  
....  
“You didn’t kill your father. The man was already dead, you dispelled a ghost.” He assured Reyna. He had heard stories like this a few too many times but it never made it less painful.

“It doesn’t matter!” Reyna sobbed. “If word of this got out at camp Jupiter-“

“You’d be executed.” A strange voice sounded and Nico’s head snapped up and around to see a roman teenage boy. “Thank you for your confession, Former praetor. You’ve made my job much easier.” Toby and Hedge took the moment to come barging back in. Nico held up his hand to them Toby stopped and Hedge had the sense to stop as well. Hedge ate a paper airplane that was in his hand. Nico wasn’t sure if that was stress related eating or concealing information.

“Bryce Lawrence,” Reyna stated suddenly calm as mountains before a avalanche. “Octavian’s new attack dog.”

“The augur has many attack dogs.” The man said smiling viciously. Nico found it odd that he didn’t deny the comparison. “I’m just the lucky one who found you. Your Graecus friend here,” He waved at Nico. Nico snarled, when would they stop using his ancestry as a insult? “he was easy to track. He stinks of the Underworld.”

“You know the underworld?” Nico shot back in fake friendship, drawing his black sword. “Would you like me to arrange a visit?” He could feel Toby’s eyes on him intently but he ignored it. Reyna kept talking trying to talk the stranger down, but Nico was only getting angrier. Bryce would not be reasoned with and when he summoned some of the dead that had somehow been hiding themselves from Nico he was done.

He attacked the dead, his sword didn’t work. He tried his power but the dead didn’t respond. The situation looked like it was out of Nico’s control but he knew it wasn’t. He just hoped it didn’t come down to his anger.

“Nico get out of here! Reyna yelled. Get the statue and leave.” Reyna shouted.

“Yes off you go!” Bryce laughed. “Of course, you realize that your next shadow-jump will be your last.”

“Shut up!” Nico yelled at Bryce. He had just spotted Toby fighting a little distance away. Three against one and even though Toby was a good fighter he was being overwhelmed. There was blood on his arm and it obviously didn’t belong to the dead. “Stop this!” But of course Bryce didn’t. Instead he started taunting coach Hedge about his pain tolerance.

“What about you?” Bryce asked Toby, and Toby snarled wordlessly at him.

“I can’t feel pain at all asshole, you’re out of luck.”

“Leave them alone.” Nico hissed at Bryce. But he didn’t stop and he kept taunting Nico. He seemed to believe that Nico was too weak to stop him. But anger could fuel Nico better than anything else and it was building.

He held it as long as he could but then he was screaming, releasing all his rage in the form of power. The air dropped to freezing, all the grass around him died, turning black with frost. Just then he didn’t care that the others were now practically inside his head.

 _“You want secrets!?”_ He snarled at Bryce though his power more than anything else. _“Here.”_ All of the dead crumpled to dust around him, Toby tried to intercept him, but one warning look and he dropped back again.

Bryce had fallen, his nose was bleeding and he was clutching his head. Nico spotted the tablets that Bryce had been so proud of and ripped it off his neck, tossing it away.

“You aren’t worthy of this.” He snarled. He stomped his foot and the ground under Bryce’s feet started swallowing him up to his waist.

“Stop!” Bryce shouted but Nico didn’t stop, Bryce kept sinking.

“You took an oath to the legion.” Nico continued as if he hadn’t heard. “You broke its rules. You inflicted pain. You killed your own centurion.”

“I-I didn’t! I-“

“You should have died for your crimes." Nico continued speaking over Bryce, his voice booming with the power of the underworlds judgment. “That was the punishment. Instead you got exile. You should have stayed away. Your father Orcus may not approve of broken oaths. But my father, Hades, REALLY does not approve of those who escape punishment.”

“Please!” Bryce begged. Nico blinked down at him and scowled.

“The underworld has no mercy.” Nico stated blandly. “Only justice. Besides you’re already dead.” Nico stated crouching down in front of Bryce and covering his mouth with his hand. Nico pulled energy out with the other man's breath and took it into himself through his palm, also quieting his words. Nico looked directly into his eyes. “You’re a ghost with no tongue, no memory. You won’t be sharing anyone’s secrets.” Nico uncovered Bryce’s mouth.

“No!” Bryce yelped, his body already turning dark and to smoke without the life force holding it together and Nico’s will tearing it apart. “No, I am Bryce Lawrence! I’m Alive.” Bryce sobbed

“Who are you?” Nico asked cocking his head to the side. Bryce opened his mouth but this time nothing came out but a chattering whisper. Nico laughed. ‘Bryce’ was just another spirit now, just one amongst millions of undefined ex-humans. “Begone.” Nico commanded and the spirit sunk into the earth like water. The crack closed and the air became warm again.

Nico stood again and turned to his friends. Reyna and Hedge looked afraid. Toby looked delighted. What had just happened caught up with Nico and he collapsed. Toby was the one that caught him.

“That was amazing.” Toby exclaimed enthusiastically. “I wish I carried a camera like Hoody!” Then his voice got softer realizing Nico was already half asleep. Toby’s slightly chapped lips pressed against Nico’s forehead. “You put any of us to shame. Sleep well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends I am back! writing from Nico's perspective is hard when he spends so much time asleep. I'm switching back to Toby next chapter.
> 
> P.S. I changed my tumblr to too-much-slender-stuff so if you were trying to find too-much-tea-stuff I'm sorry about that. :P


	14. Realizations

Carefully Toby lifted Nico up. He wasn’t worried that his twitches would wake Nico right now, he was out for the count. He turned back to Reyna and Hedge to see them both still staring in shocked disgust at the place Bryce had been. He snarled at them and immediately both their eyes snapped to him.

“Nico needs to sleep now so I’m taking him back to the tent. You two can keep staring at the ground as long as you want.” He snapped at them and turned away. Nico was so light. Toby hadn’t really carried Nico since he had defeated the Operator. He hadn’t weighed much, now he weighed almost nothing. It was alarming similar to how carrying Sally felt, like lifting a unusually heavy piece of air.

“You’re going to be okay.” Toby murmured mostly to himself. Nico couldn’t hear him but Toby needed to believe Nico would be okay. Back at the tent Toby carefully tucked Nico’s limp body into a sleeping bag and sat next to him on the ground. Gently he ran his finger tips over Nico’s cheek bones and traced his overly prominent eye socket. He had so much weight to gain back when they got home, so much to recover from.

Toby glanced up when Reyna followed him into the tent. She pulled a bottle of the unicorn draft out of her bag. Toby propped Nico up for her so she could carefully make Nico drink it. The next few of Nico’s breaths expelled small puffs of darkness like smoke.

“He’s going to be okay.” Toby assured her once he had laid Nico back down. Reyna’s lips were turned down and there was a small crease between her eyebrows. “He’ll be able to make the next jump when he wakes up. He took that Bryce guys life, that’ll make him stronger.”

“He shouldn’t have done that.” Reyna sighed without looking at Toby. Her eyes were locked on Nico’s face. Nico’s expression had twisted into a frown, he obviously wasn’t having a good dream. There were so many creeps who could control dreams, maybe it was time for one of them to meet Nico. Quickly Toby dug into his backpack and pulled out a purple dream catcher. He knew there was a good reason to bring this.

Carefully he hung it by Nico and after a couple of minutes Nico’s face smoothed again.

“What is that?” Reyna asked eyeing the dream catcher.

“It’s one of Dr. Lucid’s dream catchers. He’ll make sure Nico has good dreams. I’ll just take it down if it looks like Nico’ll sleep for more than twenty hours. We don’t make up the rules, anyone who stays in Dr. Lucid’s world for over twenty hours stays forever.” Reyna nodded, Toby’s mind backtracked a little and finally grasped what she had said. “Why shouldn’t he have done that?”

“That was too far.” Reyna breathed, there was a little fear in her face when she looked down at Nico.

“No it wasn’t.” Toby scowled at her. “Those are the rules of your world, he’s just as much a part of my world as yours and for us he did exactly the right thing. He’s completed the initiation now. He can be completely one of us if he wants to, we’ll write his story for him. I’m proud of him, all of the other creeps will be too.” Toby rested his palm against Nico’s forehead.

“Do you love him more for becoming a killer.” She shot at him accusingly scowling, He blinked at her in surprise and the scowled right back.

“No. But I don’t love him any less either. I love him for who he is, if going through Tartarus and back doesn’t change who he is killing, a single person who deserved it definitely doesn’t.” He and Reyna had a glare off for a moment but it was her who looked away. For a moment Toby felt a flare of triumph but it settled down again quickly. “Don’t worry though I don’t think Nico will ever become one of us. He hates fighting, he wants peace. The only reason he gets involved in any of this fighting is to try and get it over with quickly so he can relax.

“I don’t Nico would ever seek out violence. He actively avoids conflict, that’s why he spends so much time running. Trying to make him fight anyone would be the fastest way I could lose him.” Reyna seemed reassured, she nodded then got up and left the tent, maybe to talk to Hedge. 

Toby curled up and rested his head on his knees. Nico had been almost cold to him recently. He kept telling himself it was stress but what about what Nico had said in Portugal in the cathedral of bones? Toby still couldn’t completely understand what Nico had meant, but it scared him. He had a feeling Nico had been talking about him when he spoke about people he couldn’t save. Toby knew he was beyond saving but it had never bothered him that much before Nico, because everyone he had known was beyond saving as well. Now he loved someone and he knew they wouldn’t go to the same place when they died, and either of them could die at almost any time.

‘The underworld has no mercy. Only justice.’ Toby shivered at the memory of Nico’s words. ‘I wish I believed that the judgment of the underworld was avoidable.’ Loving him was hurting Nico because Nico was afraid for him. Toby didn’t want that but he couldn’t just back out of the world he had chosen now even if he wanted to. For the first time he did want to, he wanted to be good for Nico so Nico wouldn’t be conflicted about loving him.

It was too late for him anyway. Even if he backed out now he had already done too many things. For how long life could be, it was amazing how quickly you could fuck it up. Just a few decisions, a few hours to kill someone and that was it. Toby had killed dozens of people, even if he stopped now and lived to be sixty how could he make up for that? Besides he wouldn’t live to sixty. Most people with his disorder didn’t last past childhood, he was already and exceptional case.

Remembering that Toby pulled himself out of his own head and made himself check the blood he’d noticed on his shirt. Sure enough there was a fairly deep cut on his upper arm. It would probably need stitches. He sighed and set about looking after it, focusing on that so he wouldn’t waste more time regretting something he couldn’t do anything about now.

(POV Nico)

“Oh Hello! Who are you?” A cheerful voice called to Nico out of the dark world of swirling purples and blacks. “I don’t remember giving you a dream catcher.

“My name Nico Di Angelo. I am the Ghost King. Who are you?” Nico called back.

“There’s no need to shout. I’m right here.” The man’s voice laughed and then there he was in front of Nico. A tall thin man in a purple coat and top hat, carrying a walking stick. “My name is Dr. Lucid.” The man said with a dramatic bow. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“Are you one of the creeps?” Nico asked cooking his head to the side.

“Why yes I am dear boy!” Lucid piped straightening back up with a flourish. “That must be how you got here. I’ve distributed a few of my dream catchers amongst the creeps for when they desire a refuge in sleep.” 

“Oh then it’s a pleasure to meet you too.” Nico said smiling at the tall man and shaking his hand.

“So the Ghost King hmmm? What an interesting title. Welcome to paradise, this is my world. It is a safe space. Don’t worry your body is just where you left it.” Lucid explained, making expansive gestures as he moved deeper into the world of swilling colours.

“I have some experience walking in dreams.” Nico assured him watching the patterns the world around him made with interest. “But it takes effort.”

“No effort allowed here.” Lucid laughed. “Don’t worry Ghost King you’ll wake up feeling refreshed! Maybe not good as new considering how tired you are now but much better.”

“I appreciate it.” Nico said. He could only assume that it was Toby who had hung one of Dr. Lucid's dream catchers so he would be safe here. Besides he had been pulled out of another memory of Tartarus, so this was much better. 

“So what do you want to do while you’re here?” Lucid asked leaning on his walking stick and smiling at Nico. “Oh I need to show you something.” Dr. Lucid snapped his fingers and a dolls appeared in the air above him. Small figures of boys and girls in equal amount. He tossed them over his shoulders and when they landed they were full sized children.

“Interesting.” Nico stated moving around Dr. Lucid to get a better look. He didn’t seem to mind. The children were stiff and blank faced like actual dolls but Nico could feel souls inside of them.

“They’re not actually dolls. They are children aren’t they? How are you controlling them, why are they here?”

“Oh you can tell can you?” Dr. Lucid asked sounding a little uncomfortable but then he laughed. “What am I talking about, of course you can! Your title is the Ghost King and they are all ghosts. They were inside my world when they died so they stayed here. When they become unruly I’m forced to take control of them to keep peace.”

“If I have any experience with the creeps you’re forced to do no such thing and it was no accident they were inside your world when they died.” Nico said flashing Dr. Lucid a mildly accusing glance which he brushed off.

“There’s chance that is the case.” Lucid allowed smiling conspiratorially. “It’s easy to control people in dreams. I’m sure you’ve had dreams where you do things you would never do while awake but they seem completely normal within the dream. People are highly susceptible to suggestion.”

“Does that mean you could ask them to lend me their energy and alter my mind space to make me not feel guilty about it and it not change my actually thinking when I wake up?” Nico asked cocking his head to the side and looking at Dr. Lucid out of the corner of his eye.

“I could do that.” Lucid agreed turning towards Nico fully. “You’re a soul feeder, like Seed Eater.”

“I am.” Nico agreed. “Though I don’t have to take the entire thing. A small amount can be recovered easily. There’s no lasting harm.”

“That’s good to hear.” Dr. Lucid chirped. “I wouldn’t want to lose any of my friends after all, but yes you can take from them if you want.” So Nico did, though only from the two oldest, a girl and a boy. He didn’t think he needed more than that after all he had taken all of Bryce’s energy already. Dr. Lucid watched curiously while Nico did and hummed in approval when he was finished.

“You’re right you needed that and they’ll be fine.” Dr. Lucid. “Now how did you drain yourself that much?”

“I’m trying to stop a war before it happens. Slenderman said he would inform all the creeps about the situation.” Nico said looking at Dr. Lucid questioningly.

“He can’t reach me here.” Dr. Lucid explained shaking his head. “Please explain.” So Nico did as best he could. “My, my what an adventure you’ve been having out there in the real world.” Dr. Lucid exclaimed when Nico was done. Nico felt suddenly tired and yawned. “And on cue I think it’s time you headed back into it. That’s a sign you're waking up.”

“Alright.” Nico sighed and stretched. Dr. Lucid waved his hand and suddenly a bed appeared.

“Just climb in and you’ll wake up back in the real world. Feel free to stop by whenever you want.” Dr. Lucid said invitingly as Nico crossed to the bed and climbed in. There was a touch of loneliness in Dr. Lucids face, maybe that was why he kept the kids. 

Nico woke up in a sleeping bag in the tent. He spotted a purple dream catcher hanging from the ceiling, that would be what had brought Dr. Lucid then. He looked around and spotted saw Reyna sitting against one side of the tent. Toby was next to him. Nico smiled up at him and Toby smiled back helping him sit up.

“How do you feel?” Toby asked and Nico leaned against him. Not because he needed the support but because he wanted the closeness.

“I feel okay.” He assured softly. “I can take the next jump whenever you’re ready.”

“Do you think you could make it to the mansion?” Toby asked tucking some of Nico’s hair behind his ears. “There are plenty of creeps who can get the statue the rest of the way from there. Slenderman definitely could. And then you can rest in your own room.”

“I can get us to the mansion.” Nico agreed. “But I’m coming with you the rest of the way anyway. I need to see this through.”

“Okay. I’ll start getting things ready.” Toby said softly and kissed Nico’s cheek. He shot Reyna a glare before he left the tent. Nico looked to Reyna for an explanation but didn’t get one right away.

“Here” She said handing Nico a bottle of unicorn draft. “Drink.” He didn’t argue. He was thirsty. There was pain in Reyna’s eyes and conflict. It took Nico a moment to put puzzle pieces together. Reyna had watched her father turn into a ghost, Nico had just turned Bryce….

“Reyna I… I didn’t think.” Nico said softly. “What I did to Bryce-“

“You destroyed him.” Reyna cut him off, she was trying hard to keep the accusation out of her voice but she couldn’t and she wouldn’t meet his eyes. “You turned him into a ghost. And yes, it did remind me of what happened to my father.” Nico flinched.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” Nico said bitterly. He couldn’t say he hadn’t meant to kill Bryce because he had done exactly what he had meant to. He just hadn’t thought of what it might bring up for Reyna. “ I didn’t mean to… To poison our friendship. I’m sorry.” She looked him over carefully.

“Nico, I have to admit, at first while you were unconscious, I didn’t know what to think or feel. What you did was hard to watch… hard to process.” 

“I gotta agree with the girl on this one kid.” Hedge said popping into the tent. “Smashing someone’s head in with a baseball bat, that’s one thing. But ghostifying the creep? That’s some dark stuff.”

Nico scowled at Hedge. He didn’t care what he thought. Nico was sorry he had scared Reyna but he couldn’t care less what Hedge thought of him. If he cared about how the world judged him he would never do anything. The world judged him for living as a son of Hades, he had been guaranteed a place amongst outcasts as his birthright.

“Then why help me.” He asked the Coach who shrugged.

“You’re apart of the team you idiot. We’re not going to leave you behind.” Hedge said. Nico scowled at him, that wasn’t enough, not what he wanted to hear, not what he would accept.

“It’s more than that.” Reyna said resting her hand on Nico’s. Immediately Nico felt his anger calm from a boiling point to a simmer. “While you were asleep, I did a lot of thinking. What I told you about my father… I’d never shared that with anyone else. I guess I knew you were the right person to confide in. You lifted some of my burden. I trust you Nico.”

“How can you trust me?” Nico asked started, staring at her with wide eyes, all of his anger gone now. “You felt my anger, saw my worst feelings.”

“Hey kid, Everyone gets angry. Even a sweetheart like me.” The coach said. Nico closed his eyes and took a deep breath to keep himself from getting angry again. After this quest he would be happy if he never had another interaction with Hedge again.

“Coach is right, Nico.” Reyna cut in quickly and Nico opened his eyes to look at her again. “You’re not the only one who let’s out the darkness once in awhile. I told you what happened to my dad and you supported me. You shared your painful experiences, how can we not support you? We’re friends.” Nico felt like he was going to cry. When Toby had glared at Reyna he was sure he was in for a lecture from her but she was supporting him. She cared about him, she said they were friends.

“But Bryce. I…” Nico started but he got choked up on the words unsure of what he had been planning to say anyway.

“You did what had to be done.” Reyna said pulling him into a hug. “I see that now. Just no more turning people into ghosts if we can avoid it.” Nico nodded helplessly and rested his head on Reyna’s shoulder for a moment taking a few deep breaths to calm himself. Now was not the time to cry. But Reyna was warm and it was so like having a big sister again he almost couldn’t help it. But he did, and after a moment she let him go and he pulled back hoping his eyes weren’t to red.

“It’s not all bad news. We’ve seen no signs of the Romans so Bryce must not have told anyone where we were. Also no sign of Orion. Hopefully that means he was taken down by the hunters.”

“And Hylla? Thalia?” Nico asked hopefully. Reyna’s face tightened a little more.

“No word. But I have to believe they’re alive.” Reyna said and Nico nodded. “Alright you should eat something and then we’ll get going. There’s still a few days before we need to get the statue to camp. You can rest for a while and I’m assuming you’d rather rest at this mansion Toby mentioned.”

“I would but, you should be warned it is the home of quite a few of the creeps. Are you sure you want to go there before you can leave again right away?” Nico said standing up and wobbling slightly. Reyna’s mouth tightened into a hard determined line.

“I’m sure I can handle them.” Reyna said firmly and Nico shrugged.

“Of course you can” Nico agreed stumbling over to the banquet table and leaning on it for support. “I was just asking if you’d rather not. If Bryce didn’t tell the romans we can stay here for a bit longer if you’d rather that.” Reyna looked a little taken aback and blinked a few times but then she gave a tight smile.

“No I want to see this place you’ve been living. I need to make sure those people are looking after you.” Reyna stated with a dry humor that made Nico chuckle.

“Of course you do. Okay then we can head out as soon as it get’s dark because it’ll be easier for me to travel when the shadows are darker.”


	15. Home Again

Nico had another short nap well they waited for the sun to set, Toby curled up next to him and slept as well. Reyna woke Nico up carefully when the sun started to set, then Nico woke up Toby so he wouldn’t react violently. Toby was up in a second and they started to pack up. Nico was feeling better than he had in a while, but he felt distant.

When Toby and Reyna talked to him, it sounded like they were coming from distance. He was slow, he did his best not to let it show. He felt fine.

When the sun set he harnessed himself to the statue. Reyna and Hedge climbed up onto it but Toby stayed next to him. “Okay.” Nico agreed when Toby wrapped his arms around Nico. “Just hold on tight.” Toby nodded firmly.

Nico sighed and then closed his eyes, pulling them all back into the shadows. He focused on the place he had started to think of as his home. It wasn’t hard somehow. When they landed he looked around in confusion. He could feel the ground under his feet, he could still feel Toby’s arms around him, but what he was seeing didn’t match. Everything was so dark; it was like he hadn’t left the shadows.

“Ghost!” He heard… Jeff? shout but it sounded like it was miles away. The dark was stealing his other senses now as well, and he was losing feeling in his body. He couldn’t tell if it was happening quickly or slowly because he couldn’t track time. He couldn’t feel when he collapsed, swallowed by the darkness he felt had followed him out of the other world.

(Pov change idk)

Toby caught Nico when he collapsed. He had seen before that Nico’s eyes were completely black again, but now none of it was leaving his body. Instead it seemed like his body was falling apart. Toby has seen this before, some of the ghost creeps did it when they ever exerted themselves. BEN did it when he was really depressed.

Jeff was shouting at Nico for scaring them but it didn’t seem like Nico could hear. He collapsed and Toby was glad he hadn’t let go. He cut the harness with one of his hatchets, no time to untangle it.

“Eyeless!” Toby shouted.” Reyna slid down of the statue. She didn’t know what Eyeless meant, but obviously the creeps did because the white faced one shut up and someone opened and slipped out a second story window. They ran across the roof and then leapt off, landing cat like, and sprinted across the yard to Toby. Toby passed Nico into the grey skinned man’s arms. He bent his head over Nico sniffing and then his head snapped back.

“Proxies!” The grey skinned man shouted and two other men burst out of the house. “Bring me a human.” The two didn’t say anything but sprinted off into the woods together. “What did you let him do?!” He shouted at Toby but didn’t wait for an answer instead turning and jogging towards the house. Toby waved for Reyna and Hedge to follow and ran after him.

“That’s eyeless Jack. He’s like the doctor for all of us. He knows how to deal with things like this.” Toby explained and Reyna nodded. She hadn’t really seen what had happened to Nico, but she nodded. Hedge followed behind her yelling something she didn’t pay attention to. They were lead into the house and up a set of stairs.

Eyeless Jack gave Nico back to Toby once they reached a pair of double doors. Toby ducked through and eyeless turned back to Reyna and Hedge.

“You can come in.” He told Reyna after sniffing the air again. “You smell a bit like him, I’m guessing you're related?”

“Distantly.” Reyna agreed. Very distantly. But she didn’t want to argue. Eyeless nodded.

“That smells like a barnyard.” Eyeless said pointing at Hedge. “I don’t want it in my operating room.”

“I’m a satyr!” Hedge snapped sounding offended. “What are you, blind?” It was Eyeless’s turn to look taken aback, but then he slid off his mask revealing empty eye sockets slowly oozing some black gunk.

“Did you think eyeless was a cute nickname.” Eyeless snarled. Reyna resisted the urge to gag. “I don’t care what you are. If she and Toby are coming in you are not and no one else is either. I need space.”

“That’s fine.” Reyna said giving Hedge a threatening look. Eyeless nodded firmly and swept into the room, Reyna followed. She blinked at the sterile white room. Toby had already laid Nico down on a table. Eyeless bustled over and started to examine Nico. She noticed that he kept leaning over Nico and breathing deeply. She wondered how much of his view of the world came from smell. Toby had grabbed a cloth and now and then wiped some of the black ooze off of Eyeless’ face so it couldn’t fall on Nico.

“ _WHAT’S GOING ON?_ ” A voice asked. Reyna looked around but she couldn’t see where the voice came from. Toby looked up and at a… camera in the corner of the room.

“Ghost over extended himself. He’s doing the thing you do when you get depressed.” Toby explained.

“ _SHIT. I’M GUESSING HE DOESN’T NEED TO BE PLUGGED IN. SOMETIMES I’M JUST LOW ON BATTERIES._ ” The camera said again, or whatever being was in the camera Reyna guessed.

“No, but something similar I think.” Eyeless murmured. “BEN please let me know when the other proxies get back.”

“ _WILL DO DOC._ ” BEN said and then the light on the camera went off, then flicked back on again almost right away. “ _IS THE GOAT MAN IN THE HALL SUPPOSED TO BE THERE? HE JUST BROKE ONE OF MY LIGHTS._ ”

“He’s supposed to be there. He came with Ghost.” Eyeless informed BEN. “Tell him not to break things if you want or leave him alone.” The light on the camera turned off again. Eyeless started to assemble things, bandages, a few bottles of things. A bowl.

“By the way some demonic magic is about to happen.” Toby told Reyna. “You can go out if you want.

“Why.” Reyna said blinking in confusion.

“That’s how I know to bring people back from this state.” Eyeless said, his long tongue flicking out of his mouth and catching some of the black stuff before it could fall on the things he was working with. “Sally’s done this once or twice. BEN too, Lost Silver does it all the time. I know what I’m doing.”

“Okay.” Reyna said swallowing hard. She hadn’t noticed the way Nico’s edges were starting to come apart, slipping away in wisps. Reyna had a feeling that if she tried to give Nico unicorn draught, it would fall right through him.

“ _THE PROXIES ARE BACK._ ” The camera informed and Reyna ducked out of the room. She found coach Hedge pacing in the hall. She ignored his mumbling and watched as the two fairly large men she had seen earlier dragged a struggling person up the hall. Before she could say anything to them they disappeared into Eyeless’ operating room. The one with light brown hair and Toby came out again quickly. The big one with the dark brown hair didn’t come back out.

“This is Hoody.” Toby said waving at the new man and sliding down the wall to sit against it. “He probably won’t say anything. He doesn’t talk much.” Hoody nodded at them and sat down next to Toby crossing his legs and sitting up straight. Reyna nodded back.

She flinched when a short scream came out of the operating room. Hedge gave a distressed bleat, neither Hoody or Toby reacted at all. After about ten more minutes the dark haired one came back out. Toby had curled up into a tight ball and rested his head on his knees. He was shaking slightly. Reyna didn’t know what to say, Hoody had started rubbing his back slightly but it didn’t seem to be helping.

When the other one came out he grabbed Toby’s wrist and tugged him to his feet. He wrapped Toby in a tight hug. Toby hugged him back and burst into tears. The dark haired one seemed to be older than Toby, an adult where Toby was still a teenager.

“If I lose him again.” Toby whimpered and the dark haired man shushed him.

“You’re not going to. He’s going to be fine.” He snapped, he sounded almost angry.

“How do you know Masky?” Toby whimpered.

“E.J.’s brought back Lost Silver when he was worse than Ghost is now. He’ll be fine.” Toby whimpered again and rested his head on Masky’s shoulder. “Come on I’ll stay with you until he wakes up. You’re my brother after all.” Toby quieted suddenly and he pulled away from Masky a little.

“You’ve never called me that before.” Toby pointed out softly. “I thought you hated me. You never wanted me, you liked it when it was just you and Hoody.”

“I stopped hating you a long time ago.” Masky sighed. “I thought you knew that.” Toby shook his head and sniffled softly, a fresh wave of tears coming on. “Okay now, it's getting soppy.” Masky grumbled and pushed Toby away. In an instant Hoody had stood up and gathered Toby into a hug instead, letting Toby cry on his shoulder instead.

“Is he really going to be okay?” Reyna asked Masky. Masky seemed surprised to see she was there.

“Ya he’s going to fine. He needs to sleep for a few days probably. How soon do you guys need to keep moving? I’m sure we can find someone to take you.” Masky asked. Hoody was watching him closely over Toby’s shoulder.

“We have three days.” Reyna said softly.

“We can find you rooms if you want. We have at least one spare and Toby will want to stay with Nico, so one of you could use his room I’m sure.” Masky assured.

“We can camp. I have a tent.” Reyna offered. Masky glanced over at Hoody who shook his head slightly.

“Safer for you to be inside.” Masky said. “I’ll go tell Slenderman you’re here.” He said and strode off down the hall. She looked at Hoody and he shrugged. She knew he knew what was happening but couldn’t tell her, or maybe wouldn’t. She left it alone.

It was nearly an hour before E.J. came back out. Throughout that entire time Hoody let Toby cling to him. When E.J. did come back out he looked tired and there was blood on his hands and on his clothes.

“Take him to bed now.” He told Toby. Toby pulled away from Hoody quickly wiping his eyes. He rushed into the operating room and came back out a moment later carrying Nico. The parts of Nico’s arms Reyna could see were wrapped in dark red bandages, but he didn’t seem to be coming apart anymore.

“Thanks E.J.. You’re going to rest now too right?” Toby asked. E.J. nodded sighing.

Toby walked away down the hall and after hesitating for a moment. Reyna followed him and Hedge followed her. He went down two hallways and then pushed a door open with his foot. Reyna followed him in. It was a mostly plain room, there were a few paintings hung on the walls. She blinked at them they were very good. There was also the skeleton of a cat curled up on the foot of the bed.

“Bloody Painter and Clockwork gave those to him. They’re quite fond of him.” Toby said following her gaze to the painting as he tucked Nico into bed. The skeleton cat raised its head making her jump and gave a small little purrp sound. “Hey Ira, your person is back.” Toby murmured to the cat. Ira stood and stretched then walked up and lay down on Nico’s chest.

“Are all of the ‘creeps’ fond of Nico?” Reyna asked curiously.

“I don’t know he hasn’t met all of them yet.” Toby said shrugging. “Most of us get along well with each other as a general rule. When the rest of the world doesn't, you get close to those who accept you.” Toby said, he sounded like he was quoting someone. “That’s what Nico said, he said it happens with the demigods too?” It was a question, he glanced up at Reyna.

“It’s true.” Reyna said. “But there are always exceptions like Octavian.” She snarled his name. Toby nodded.

“There are with us too. Zalgo’s been locked up for nearly a hundred years from what I’ve heard. He tried to start trouble. There’s also this really old nameless sea monster that’s one of us but not really. She doesn’t care about anything. She would kill anyone of us as easily as a human if we landed in her grasp. Then there are those who just have fight with a few, like Jeff and Jane they hate each other but not the rest of us.” Toby seemed to realize he was rambling and shut up.

“I heard that Nico was back?” A small voice asked from the doorway. Reyna turned to see a little girl with green eyes and brown hair.

“Ya Sally, he’s here.” Toby answered settling himself on the edge of the bed. “But he’s resting. He started falling apart like you and Ben do.”

“Okay I won’t wake him up.” Sally said softly and crossed the room and climbing up on the bed next to Nico. “Why is he doing that?” She asked. “He’s not already dead like me and Ben.”

“I don’t know.” Toby said shrugging. “I don’t know how his powers work.” Sally nodded and then looked at Reyna.

“Who are you?” she asked curiously.

“I’m a friend of Nico’s. We’ve been traveling together the last few weeks.” Reyna explained.

“Okay.” Sally said and rested her head on the pillow and watched Nico. Reyna pulled a chair out from the desk and sat down on it. Watching as Ira started purring and Sally fell asleep. Toby lay down on Nico’s other side. After a couple hours Hoody and Masky brought them food. E.J. came and set up an IV drip for Nico. A little later, a tall clown like creature came by to check on Nico and took Sally away to put her in her own bed.

A young looking boy with a green tunic and red eyes came in. When he spoke she recognized his voice as the one that had come out of the cameras. He spoke to Toby briefly, ignoring Reyna then left again by disintegrating into electricity and racing into a electrical socket. Reyna glanced at Toby to make sure that was normal, from his reaction it was.

“Should we bring Mrs. O’Leary to see him?” The pale faced man asked from the doorway, she noticed for the first time how wide his mouth was. “I think she can tell he’s nearby because she’s restless. It’s upsetting the puppies.”

“I don’t know if she can be calm and the last thing Nico needs is to be nosed out of bed.” Toby pointed out.

“I’ll talk to her. She’s smarter than a regular dog just like smile. She’ll probably understand. Smile can look after his kids for a bit, he’s been such a deadbeat dad.” He said and left again. A few minutes later a big black dog Reyna recognized as a hellhound crept into the room. Reyna’s initial reaction was violent and she tried to draw her sword.

“Don’t!” Toby yelped. “That’s Nico’s dog.”

“What?” Reyna asked hesitating.

“Her name is Mrs. O’Leary, she’s Nico’s dog. We’ve been looking after her and keep her out of trouble while Nico was away. We kinda failed considering Jeff’s dog Smile got her pregnant.” Toby said, the pale man, Jeff shrugged. Now that there didn’t seem to be threat of attack Mrs. O'Leary lay down on the ground next to Nico’s bed and started whining softly. Even making herself as small as she could she was almost half the size of the bed.

Masky came and lead Reyna and Hedge to rooms reminding them to look their doors before he left again. Reyna would have locked her door anyway but now she double checked that it was and put a chair in front of it to keep it shut. The she went to bed. It must be almost midnight now. It had been a long day, she fell asleep quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> periodic reminder to go check out my beloved editors tumblr Salukinut and mine which has recently been changed to too-much-slender-stuff.
> 
> Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter I'm in the middle of exams.


	16. Taking on Water

Toby stayed next to Nico, half way through the night Masky came to sit with him. They didn’t say much but it was nice to not feel alone. Nico’s face stayed blank; it was the first time Toby had seen him sleep without his eyes moving under his lids and his face moving a little because of some dream or another. If it weren’t for the shallow rise and fall of Nico’s chest and the small wheeze his breathing made, he would have looked dead.

Toby pressed close to Nico, trying to lend his warmth to Nico’s unnaturally cold body. He should have noticed that even when Nico said he was feeling better his temperature never got to a normal level. He hadn’t felt properly warm since the second shadow jump. He should have noticed and made Nico rest more. Nico had said they would look after each other, how could Toby have done such a bad job of looking after Nico. 

Reyna came in very early in the morning, maybe five a.m. and she brought two bottles with her. She put them down on the bedside table and pressed her hand against Nico’s cheek gently. When she concluded she wouldn’t go through him she nodded slightly.

“Sit him up for me will you Toby? He’ll get better faster if we manage to get some unicorn draught and nectar into him.” She asked and Toby nodded. Masky watched on with interest as Toby propped Nico up against his own chest. Reyna slid her hand behind Nico’s head and tilted it back a lit before carefully pouring a little unicorn draught into his mouth. They both watched carefully to make sure he swallowed then Reyna gave him a little more. 

Slowly darkness began to seep from Nico’s skin. Toby usually couldn’t feel temperatures to well he had hardly realized that that meant the cold radiating from Nico couldn’t just be a physical kind. Now he realized it because the places the darkness touched him his skin pimpled with goose bumps, a reaction his body had never once had before. He stared at them curiously for a moment then shrugged it off, turning his attention back to Nico.

Reyna only stopped carefully making him drink the unicorn draught when the darkness stopped seeping out of Nico’s pores. Then she put the bottle back on the nightstand and grabbed the bottle that looked like it was full of apple juice. Toby had learned better. Reyna was even more careful with this one, and after a few swallows Nico started to feel a little less cold. 

Reyna poured a little more into Nico’s mouth, a little to much. Nico chocked a little and coughed, quickly Toby pushed Nico forward a little so the liquid could fall out of his mouth instead of chocking him farther. He felt some of it hit his arm and watched in amusement as his skin started to turn red and then blister where it had landed.

“Idiot!” Reyna snapped using the hem of her shirt to clean off the nectar. 

“What just happened?” Masky asked getting up from his chair and wandering over to see. His eyes widened when he saw the, fairly bad, burn on Toby’s arm.

“Some of the nectar got spilled on him.” Reyna snapped, still sounding annoyed. “Go wash it off Toby. Honestly we’ve told you it burns mortals.”

“I don’t want to go.” Toby protested. “I can’t feel it anyway.” Reyna gave him a stern look that reminded Toby too much of his sister, he flinched back a little.

“I couldn’t get all the residue off with my shirt. As long as it’s on your skin it’ll keep burning. I don’t care if you can’t feel it, it’s still damaging. Go wash it.” She shifted Nico so he was leaning limply against her instead. Masky pulled Toby away before he could protest more.

“She’s right, your arm is literally smoking. Let’s go.” Masky said leading him out of the room. Toby followed unhappily. “Ghost really wasn’t kidding about it burning mortals huh?” 

“No.” Toby sighed. “I already knew that. After Nico got shot he used some of it to clean the wound. It literally smoked, I think it burned up all the little things in the cut that weren’t ‘of godly origin'.” Toby explained as they got to the washroom and Masky started to wash the burn for Toby. It was better for someone else to look after Toby’s injuries when it was possible because Toby could never be gentle enough with them. 

“Then you really should have been more careful.” Masky scolded half heartedly.

“It’s not easy when I can’t feel anything.” Toby objected. “I don’t have the same consequences as everyone else for not being careful, so I never learn.” 

“Well you need to learn Toby.” Masky snapped scowling at him. “Think about it. You hold your own arms so hard you bruise them all the time. You can’t feel it so it’s fine but what if you accidentally hold Nico that hard? He can feel pain and you’ll hurt him, even if it’s by accident. You need to learn to be gentle for his sake.”

“Oh.” Toby said. He couldn’t think of anything else to say. He remembered after Jay had punched Nico, Toby had grabbed Nico’s arms and Nico had told him it hurt. Nico hadn’t mentioned it since then, but how many other times had Toby held Nico too tight or touched him to roughly? “I’ll work on it.” Toby promised and Masky nodded approvingly. 

“Good. I think that’s clean enough. You can go back to him, I’ll bring breakfast up to you.” Masky said letting go of Toby’s arm. 

“Thanks.” Toby slipped away and hurried back to Nico. He knew Nico probably wouldn’t wake up for a while still but he wanted to be there just in case. When he got back he found that Reyna had opened the curtains wide so the sunlight spilled into the room.

 

“The shadows aren’t good for him right now.” She commented to Toby and he nodded. “It’s a nice day. Maybe later we should take him outside so he can be in the full sun. It seemed to help before.”

“We should ask E.J. when he comes in to check on Nico. After all Nico was kinda becoming shadows and shadows disappear in sun. It seems fine now but we don’t want to accidentally make things worse.” Toby suggested and Reyna’s eyes widened, apparently she hadn’t thought of that. “Maybe you should go check on Hedge?” Toby suggested after a minute of quiet. “There’s a lot of trouble he could get into here and I haven’t seen him yet.”

 

“Good idea.” Reyna sighed standing up. “Honestly how that goat was supposed to be a chaperone I have no clue. He’s the one who needs watching.” Toby watched her leave then dug through his bag for his pills. His watch was telling him it was time to take them and he still felt self conscious about taking them in front of strangers. It was just that there were so many of them and even though half of them were just supplements to make sure he could heal properly he was pretty sure it looked bad. 

Toby swallowed his pills with a grimace, they tasted bitter and they often got stuck in his throat. Masky showed up and handed Toby a egg sandwich at about the same time that E,J. came to check on Nico. Toby ate as he watched E.J. examine Nico closely. He seemed relieved, that was a good sign.

“He’s healing well.” E.J. decided straightening up. “He’s still weak of course, and still malnourished but he just needs time. I’ll work out a proper dietary plan for him for when he wakes up.” Toby breathed a sigh of relief. If it was time to start worrying about Nico’s recovery in the future it meant he was in no immediate danger.

“Reyna was wondering if it might be a good idea to take Nico outside so he could be in the sun. It might chase some more of the shadows away, if they're not so attached to him that they take him with them?” Toby put in before E.J. could leave again.

“That sounds like a good idea.” He agreed pausing. “I don’t think it would endanger him at this point. Although I recommend someone with steadier hands carry him.” 

“Okay.” Toby agreed, he knew that was E.J. subtly warning him not to do it and he could accept that.

“I’ll carry him.” Masky offered from the corner he had retreated to. 

“I’ll tell his friends where you’ve taken him. I believe I need to apologize to the goat anyway.” E.J. said and then left. Masky came out of the corner and picked Nico up carefully. They decided to go to the shore of the pond because Toby could remember Nico mentioning that it had become a bit of a happy place for him. 

They settled Nico in the grass and sat down on either side of him. Toby started telling Masky about the trip, after all a lot had happened. Half way through the story Reyna, Hedge and E.J. showed up. E.J brought a couple pillows so they could prop Nico up and the I.V. because he said Nico shouldn’t be detached from it for to long. 

“You can tell me the rest of your story later okay Toby?” Masky said. Now there were more people here he wanted to be somewhere else. Toby understood. E.J. took the spot on the other side of Nico once Nico was propt up and hooked to the I.V., Hedge started snacking on the grass and Reyna floated dandelion heads she picked on the water. 

“Tell me more about Nico’s condition.” E.J. prompted Toby after a moment. 

“Well you know his physical condition.” Toby started, he could tell Reyna was listening intently even though she wasn’t looking at them. “He’s been having nightmares and flashbacks to Tartarus. One of the first nights I was back with him I saw him have a panic attack for the first time and I don’t think it was a ‘just once’ sort of thing. 

“He’s been having phantom pains in his throat to. He says there can’t be any actual damage there but it still hurts almost all the time, it’s been making it hard for him to eat. He says he sometimes he can’t believe he’s out of Tartarus because nothing good could exist after something so bad.” Toby explained and E.J. nodded frowning. Reynas face had become pinched and drawn.

“PTSD?” She asked E.J. and E.J nodded.

“It certainly sounds like it. Though I know nothing of this Tartarus place Nico went.” E.J. allowed.

“It’s supposed to be to horrible to imagine.” Reyna replied shortly looking at Nico unhappily. “But we don’t know anything about it because Nico’s the first person to ever live through it and he doesn’t like to talk about it. Maybe Percy and Annabeth-”

“No they won’t know what he saw.” Toby cut her off. “Nico explained it to me. There’s a thing there called the blood mist that’s like the regular mist here except instead of hiding things, it makes them look… 'only as horrible as a person can comprehend'? I think that was what Nico said at least. I don’t really understand. But because he’s a child of Hades the blood mist doesn’t work on him. Percy and Annabeth saw just saw what they could understand. Nico saw the way it really was.

“Maybe we should ask Seed Eater? If their both willing maybe she could get into his flash backy dreams and tell us what he sees.”

“I don’t think that Nico would do that.” Reyna said shaking her head. “Remember the way he apologized when I accidentally felt his pain? That was the worst pain I’ve ever felt I don’t think he would let anyone into the memories of the things that caused it just in case they experienced that too.”

“You’ve felt his pain?” E.J. asked turning to her. “What was it like.”

“It was mostly loneliness.” Reyna admitted. “Having no one who really understands what he’s been through. I think since he got out of Tartarus he’s been holding us all at a distance because he feels like a sinking ship and he doesn’t want to drag us down with him.. I don’t know, there was a lot of fear too but I didn’t see where that came from.”

“Maybe of being rejected?” Toby put in. “He’s always scared about that. Or he’s told me he’s afraid that, cos he dreams about Tartarus almost every night, this is the dream and he’s really still in Tartarus. He’s scared he’s just gone crazy and all of this is a dream he’s made up.” 

“Maybe that’s it.” Reyna agreed nodding. “Other then that there was this sort of, aching hollowness and a burning that I’m guessing is the phantom pain since there’s a lot of fire and acid in Tartarus from what I’ve heard.” 

“PTSD.” E.J. sighed rubbing face and smearing the black gunk that was always coming out of his eyes. “I’ll have to find a medication for him I suppose. Though I’m guessing he’ll resist taking them.”

"Like you're one to talk.” Toby scoffed. “You’re supposed to take painkillers for your eyes but you almost never do.” E.J. just scowled at him.

“I don’t want to dull the pain I want to actually get rid of this infection! I can’t understand why none of the antibiotics seem to do anything!” E.J. snapped.

“It’s really bad today isn’t it? Yesterday too, you’re usually not this short tempered.” Toby asked softly. E.J. opened his mouth to snap something back, then he sighed and seemed to deflate.

“Yes it is.” E.J. admitted rubbing his face again. “It’s fucking itchy too but of course they’re open wounds so I can’t scratch them without it hurting like hell.” 

“Go take your painkillers you idiot.” Toby sighed. “For the sake of everyone around you who you snap at.” E.J. scowled grumpily but he did get up and trudge away.

“So he’s medicated, you’re medicated, Nico’s going to be medicated. Are you all medicated?” Reyna asked but she didn’t sound judgmental, just curious.

“Hmmph all those chemicals can not be good for you. Some good old fashioned nature magic and exercise would do you more good.” Hedge put in. 

“Hedge shut up.” Toby snapped. “Too many people have already said things like that to me and I’m sick of it. I don’t know what nature magic can do but exercise and herbal remedies don’t cure the things we’re medicated for. Not my ADD and schizophrenia, not Jane, Jeff and E.J’s chronic pain, not Masky’s personality disorder, Hoody’s anxiety or Clockwork and Bloody Painters depression! 

“Those sort of cures are for some poor healthy baby who’s having a bad day! Not for people like us who are to broken to fucking fix. Even the pills just stick a Band-Aid over a open wound. It makes them less obvious and less painful but no less there and like E.J.’s eyes they are never going to heal no mater how many bandages we put over them or pills we take. Especially not if we exercise.” Toby wanted to run, but that would have meant leaving Nico, so he just curled up into a ball and put his head on his knees trying to suppress the rising panic attack. 

“Are you going to be okay?” Reyna asked softly. It seemed that Hedge had been silenced by Toby’s outburst. 

“I’ve been to busy to listen to the voices in my head the past few days.” Toby laughed slightly hysterically. “Now that things are calm for a moment they all want me to listen to them. They’re yelling at me I can’t-“ Toby had started rocking slightly. “Shut up shut up shut up.” He ordered desperately hitting the side of his head with his palm with each would then fisting his hands in his own hair. He couldn’t even tell what half of them were saying none of it made sense.

Some of them wanted him to die, some were saying Nico was going to die, some were telling him to kill everyone else. For whatever reason one of them was making bird noises. Someone touched him and he recoiled instantly. He didn’t dare open his eyes to see what it was, probably something awful, he sobbed hoarsely. Someone was trying to talk to him but he couldn’t hear what they were trying to say over the ruckus in his head. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’m sorry.” Toby whimpered softly. He wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for but he must have done something wrong for this to happen. It was like his father had always said, Toby had just been born wrong. As if on cue he was shoved into memories of his father, intrusive thoughts he couldn’t get rid of. Every time he turned away from one he ran straight into another. 

“Toby?” One voice cut through the noise and pictures in Toby’s head. Everything fell still and quite. “Toby you’re going to be okay.” Nico promised, Toby took a shaky breath, Nico was asleep, this must be part of the hallucination. He opened his eyes and glanced up, Nico was smiling at him gently, eyes half lidded, still half asleep by the looks of things. “You’re going to be okay.” Nico promised again reaching out to Toby. 

Toby took Nico’s hand shakily and then lay down next to him resting his head on Nico’s chest. Nico closed his eyes again and started to stroke Toby’s hair as Toby cried. But the voices were quitter now, Toby focused on Nico, trying to breathe with him just like he had told Nico to do when woke up panicking after nightmares. When Nico’s hand stilled on the back of Toby’s head Toby knew he’s fallen asleep again but that was alright, he was feeling better and Nico needed to sleep.

When he was calm he sat up fully and wiped his tears away on his sleeve, sniffled and wiped his nose as well. He looked around and saw that both Hedge and Reyna were staring at him looking a little shell-shocked.

“Sorry about that. But for the record, that’s when I am medicated.” He sighed and looked down at Nico again. His face looked peaceful, less dead then before and more asleep. 

“I’m sorry.” Hedge blurted suddenly and Toby looked up, surprised.

“It wasn’t your fault.” Toby after considering for a moment. “I have attacks like that sometimes. It just happens. If my anger at you hadn’t triggered one now something else would have. Probably better that it was sooner rather than later. I’m just glad Nico woke up so I could get out of it sooner rather than later, sometimes they last for hours, sometimes more then a day if no ones around who can get me out of it.”

“Who can get you out of it?” Reyna asked curiously. “So if it happens again, we know who to get."

“My mother and my sister used to be able to.” Toby said with a shrug. “Now it’s basically just Nico and Slenderman. I don’t even hear the other proxies when I’m like that. I don’t know how it works.” He started stroking Nico’s hair, more for his own comfort than Nico’s watching curls flatten and then spring back up soothed him for whatever reason. “At least now we know he’s going to be okay." 

“Did you mean what you said about him feeling like a sinking ship?” Toby asked after a little bit, glancing over at Reyna. She seemed mildly taken aback by the abrupt change of subject but she went with it. 

“Yes I did. He’s never said anything of the sort to me but I think that’s part of what I’ve felt from him.” She confirmed.

“Well he doesn’t need to worry about me.” Toby chuckled. “I’ve been taking on water for years.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay random reminder that I do one shots for this world as well and they can be found in Nico and the Creepypasta Oneshots. And I've started doing one shots for slenderverse as well so go check those out if you like one shots.
> 
> Thanks to XxGh0stCatxX for editing this for me.


	17. Wake up and Feel

Nico woke up fully the next day not completely sure if Toby's crying had been a dream or not. Toby was on one side of him, Sally was curled on the other. Masky and Reyna were leaning against the walls on either side of the room.

“I feel loved?” Nico croaked and coughed. His throat was dry as sandpaper. Toby was up in an instant and helped Nico sit up and have a drink from a bottle sitting on the bedside table. “Looks like I got us home.” Nico commented looking around them. His room was just the way he had left it, except maybe with a few more things in it. He spotted a new painting on the wall, some flowers on the bedside table, a small radio on the desk. Gifts maybe? Given to him indirectly while he was away.

“Yep you did great!” Toby exclaimed hugging Nico tightly.

“But you scared us there.” Reyna said giving him a tight smile. “You were fading pretty badly.”

“I was?” Nico asked blinking in confusion. His memories were just a little fuzzy. He could remember his dreams, that Seed Eater had joined him in a few of them. But he couldn’t remember what had happened just before he went to sleep, it was all dark and misty.

“Ya you were. E.J. brought you back. He’s had to do it for BEN and Sal a couple times too.” Toby explained.

“He’s awake?” E.J. said rushing into the room, did he have monitors up? Maybe, Nico noticed the IV for the first time and frowned at it. Toby got out of the way as E.J. bustled around checking on things. Nico watched him with interest, still just a little out of it. Apparently E.J. was encouraged by whatever he found. “I’m going to get you something eat.” He decided and Nico groaned making Toby laugh and Sally, who was just waking up, giggle softly.

“Your hair has gotten kinda long.” Sally commented stroking Nico’s hair.

“Yep and probably very tangled. I haven’t had time to even brush it, let alone cut it.” Nico sighed trying half heartedly to tame his wild curls.

“Can I brush it?” Sally gasped excitedly.

“Sure, if you want.” Nico said blinking at her in surprise. She squeaked happily and ran out of the room, everyone watching her go. “Was that a bad decision?” Nico asked Toby who chuckled softly.

“No it should be fine.” Toby reassured.

“Did I miss anything? How long was I asleep?” Nico asked glancing at Reyna.

“Almost three days.” Reyna answered.

“And you didn’t leave without me?” Nico asked looking up at her curiously. “There are others here who could take you the rest of the way.”

“I know.” Reyna agreed. “But we’re finishing this together. We’ll find another way to get there but you're coming too.”

Nico blinked in surprise. He didn’t know why that meant so much to him but it did. He might have cried but then Sally came rushing back in with a hairbrush and some ponytail holders.

“I think it might be long enough to go in a ponytail.” She explained happily clambering back up onto the bed.

“Sure, it’ll keep it out of my face.” Nico agreed with a shrug. “Thank you.” He said to Reyna meeting her eyes, she gave him a tight smile. Sally started brushing his hair and E.J. came back in handing Nico a glass with a smoothie in it. He took a sip and then frowned at it. “This tastes funny.” He commented.

“Hmmm? Yes it has a meal substitute in it.” E.J. said typing at some electrical device for a moment. “Just because right now all you can eat is vegetable matter doesn’t mean you don’t still need carbs and protein.”

Nico grimaced but drank the smoothie anyway because E.J. was right. Masky had stayed still, leaning against the wall and Toby was sitting next to Nico so he didn’t notice for a moment when they went completely still. It was Sally’s stillness that alerted him to the change and her gaze to the source of it.

“Slenderman would like to talk to the two of you.” Toby and Masky said at the same time, Toby looking at Nico, and Masky at Reyna. Nico had almost forgotten that Slenderman could communicate with his proxies over distances like that. He noticed Reyna shudder slightly out of the corner of his eye and ignored it.

“Where is he?” He asked instead.

“He’ll come to you whenever you’re ready.” Masky stated. “He understands that you shouldn’t leave bed yet.”

“I’m fine.” Nico lied.

“No you’re not.” E.J., Reyna, and Toby all said at once. Sally and Masky laughed, Nico groaned. Sally was very gentle as she brushed his hair. Nico found himself relaxing, she hummed in her childish voice as she did and he smiled. Finally she brushed it back and put it into a small ponytail at the back of his head.

“Done!” She exclaimed holding up her hands.

“Thanks Sal that was nice.” Nico said smiling gently at her.

“It looks good.” Toby told him kissing the corner of his mouth gently. Nico turned his head so he could steal a proper kiss from Toby. Sally giggled and covered her eyes. After that Nico took a deep breath and looked at Reyna.

“Are you ready?” He asked, she nodded. “Slenderman can come any time he wants now.” Nico said shrugging. Masky nodded. Not even a minute passed before there was a burst of static and Slenderman appeared, hunched over in the room so his head wouldn’t hit the ceiling. Or more accurately go through the ceiling.

 _“We must speak about the war you are fighting._ ” Slenderman stated without preamble Reyna seemed a little taken aback but Nico nodded. “ _I do not completely understand. You are trying to prevent a war but you cannot completely prevent it am I correct?_ ”

“We’re preventing a civil war amongst the Demigods by delivering the Athena Parthenon, a symbol of Greek power stolen by the Romans, to the Greeks. With luck that will stop the demigods fighting each other because the greater war is against Gaia, the earth mother. She’s been kept asleep by the gods for all of living memory but she and her children, the Giants, are waking up and breaking free now. If they win and Gaia fully wakes up she will destroy all mortal life.” Nico explained concisely as he could

“ _Ahhh._ ” Slenderman said gravely. “ _And what if you cannot convince the demigods to fight under one banner? Who will prevent the rise of this earth mother then?_ ”

Nico exchanged a helpless glance with Reyna. “We’re just hoping that doesn’t happen.” Reyna admitted. “The only way a demigod can kill a giant is in consort with a true god. Right now our gods are incapacitated by the war, Roman and Greek aspects of all the gods warring within them. If we can’t bring peace between the Roman’s and Greeks the gods won’t be able to help us, and we won’t be able to kill the giants.”

Toby bit his lip. He had heard all this before but it seemed like every time they recounted it their plan became more and more desperate and less and less likely. Masky looked grim and Slenderman nodded.

“ _I believe in any case I should try to assemble as many of the creeps as I can to fight incase your demigods refuse to see reason._ ” Slenderman said both Nico and Reyna who nodded. “ _That may take some time. I know that Ghost cannot take you the rest of the way to your camp but do you have another way you can get to your camp.”_

“We do have another way.” Reyna cut in before Nico could speak. “Hedge’s girlfriend Mellie managed to contact someone who can help us. It’ll just take a little arranging to get them here.”

_“Very well. Masky will help you with your arrangements. Toby must go with you so that I can find the location of your camp with the creeps who agree to help.”_

“What can I do?” Nico asked curiously.

“For now you rest.” Reyna said smiling at him. “You’ve done plenty. We’ll come get you when it’s time to leave.” Nico didn’t argue. Just sitting up this long had started tiring him out again, he leaned against Toby for support.

“Okay.” He agreed and sighed he closed his eyes. There was a burst of static and he knew Slenderman was gone. There were footsteps and he knew Reyna and Masky had left too. Sally and Toby remained.

“Are you going to leave when the war is over?” Sally asked suddenly.

“What?” Nico asked opening his eyes and blinking at her.

“You left us for them.” She said with her childish bluntness. “Are you going to leave us to stay with them?” Nico was startled, he glanced at Toby but Toby wouldn't meet his eyes. It seemed Toby was a little worried too. “Do you love them more than us?” Sally asked, Nico was speechless.

“He has a sister with them Sally. Family is important.” Toby told her instead. Sally’s eyes filled with tears and she hugged Nico tightly.

“I’ll be you’re sister if you want. I don’t want you to leave again.” She sniffled. Nico wrapped his arms around her gathering his thought for a moment before he managed to speak.

“I’m not going to leave again. I’m going to visit my sister of course but this is my home now. Don’t worry about that. But I’d be happy to have you as my sister anyway.”

“Yay!” Sally exclaimed and hugged Nico tightly. “I’m going to go tell Hoody!” She jumped off the bed and Nico watched her run out of the room leaving him and Toby alone.

“You were worried?” Nico asked laying back against his pillows and rubbing Toby’s back gently.

“A little.” Toby admitted. Looking down at Nico.

“Don’t be.” Nico hummed tiredly. “I’m staying.”

“You’ll be a hero to them after this won’t you?” Toby asked. “Won’t that make you want to stay.”

“I’ve been a hero to them before.” Nico sighed closing his eyes. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be and they forget me quickly. Children of Hades are not nearly as desirable to them as children of Zeus and Poseidon. Percy and Jason will get all of the credit as usually. At least this time Reyna will get some as well and they’ll make sure that Hazel gets the credit she deserves. I don’t care if I fade back into the background.”

“We won’t forget you.” Toby assured leaning down to kiss Nico gently.

“I know.” Nico agreed smiling slightly. “This is the only place I’ve ever felt truly wanted. Why would I ever want to leave?”

“If you wanted to get away from me?” Toby asked, Nico’s eyes shot open and he looked up at Toby. “I finally pieced together what you said in that bone cathedral. You’re scared for me aren’t you? You’re scared about when I die; loving me is hurting you because you feel like you need to save me?”

“That’s just all the more reason for us to enjoy the time we have.” Nico said sitting up and wrapping his arms around Toby comfortingly from behind. He rested his head against the middle of Toby’s back.

“I don’t want you to feel like you need to save me but I don’t think there’s anything I can do now is there?” Toby asked a small hitch in his voice. “I’ve gone too far.”

“I don’t think there’s anything you can do.” Nico said softly. “But there might be something I can do. You don’t need to worry about it. Just let me try and do this for you.”

“When am I going to get to do something for you?” Toby grumbled, twisting so he could wrap his arms around Nico.

“You do plenty for me, don’t worry.” Nico laughed and then yawned.

“You’re still tired.” Toby said relenting quickly. “I’m sorry now’s not the time to talk about this.” He kissed Nico gently. Nico didn’t argue, he was tired again, but mostly he was just happy to cut off any more conversation on this topic. He kissed Toby back gently letting Toby push him back against the pillows. “You get some more sleep.”

“Okay.” Nico agreed closing his eyes and falling asleep immediately. He was woken a few hours later by Toby.

“Reyna says that our ride will be here in about an hour.” Toby said softly. “You can spend that time sleeping of course, but I thought you might want to have a shower while we’re here if you’re not too tired.”

“You’re right.” Nico agreed groggily and slipped out of bed squinting down at the bandages around his arms. He lifted his shirt a little and saw that they were around his torso too. He ignored the redness on him because he knew from the distinct lack of pain that the blood was not his own. He looked around the room and spotted a mobile monitoring system.

“Is E.J. watching?” Nico asked without looking away from the camera. Before Toby could answer the thing flicked on.

“Nope but I’ve been keeping an eye on you for him. Why? You need something?” Ben asked from the speaker.

“Ask him if I can take these bandages off if I want to have a shower.” Nico said.

“He says yes.” Ben confirmed. “You should be fine now.”

“Thanks.” Nico said and got up fully stretching and groaning. Toby caught Nico when his legs gave out briefly.

“Are you going to be okay?” Toby asked worriedly.

“Yah I’m going to be fine.” Nico said testing his legs again and finding them more stable on the second try. “I just haven’t used my leg in a few days.” Nico said and stood up more carefully this time. Toby watched him closely as Nico wobbled and then reaffirmed his footing. Once he was sure of his legs, he grabbed some clean clothes from the dresser, left his bedroom, and headed to the washroom to shower.

He had a quick shower and washed his hair twice because it felt greasy. He scrubbed dirt, sweat and probably a small amount of dried blood from his skin. When he got out he looked at himself in the mirror. He hated his appearance now. All his ribs stuck out, he could see the hollow rings around his eyes, and his cheeks were sunken too. His skin was sickly pale under its darker tone, practically green.

His eyes looked empty and dark, like portals to hell. He had left Tartarus but his soul had not, and if eyes were the windows to the soul he supposed maybe they really were portals to hell. How could Toby stand to look into them? He certainly couldn’t so he looked away from himself, dried off and got dressed. He sighed in relief when his baggy shirt and pants he had chosen hid his protruding bones. He put his hair back up in the ponytail Sally had done because it did keep his hair out of his face and Toby said it looked good.

He felt more awake after the shower which was a bonus, and he felt better for being clean. When he left the bathroom he found a note stuck to the outside of the door.

Come to the kitchen. E.J. says you have to eat something before we leave. TT. Nico didn’t doubt that TT stood for Ticci-Toby after he deciphered the complete note. Being dyslexic sucked. Being a dyslexic with minimal schooling was even worse. Nico had been pulled out of school when he was eight and hadn’t had a chance to go back yet.

He headed down to the kitchen and found E.J. already there. He waved for Nico to sit down and Nico did. Within minutes E.J. set a bowl of soup down, a glass of juice and a smaller glass half full of something else. It looked a little like blood and Nico looked up at E.J questioningly.

“Don't worry it’s not blood.” E.J. reassured. “It’s a mix of a whole bunch of vegetable juices distilled to be high in iron. Vegetarians use it as a supplement but at the moment you should be able to handle that much of it. It doesn’t taste good but just drink it quickly. I assumed it would be easier than a pill at the moment.”

“You’re right.” Nico sighed, his throat still hurt, he thought pill would feel like sandpaper on a open wound. So instead he drank the red stuff like he had seen adults drink shots. He grimaced, that wasn’t blood, it tasted much, much, worse. “Yuck.” He said and quickly downed half the fruit juice to wash down the taste, then made himself eat the soup. E.J. watched him closely as he ate, well to the extent that E.J could be said to watch anything without eyes.

When he finished E.J. nodded approving. “Well done I didn’t expect you to finish all of it.” E.J. said. It made Nico a little uncomfortable. There hadn’t been really that much but his stomach was feeling a little over stuffed and he had had to make himself eat the last bit so he supposed it was a fair thing to say.

“Thanks.” He grumbled as E.J. whisked away the dishes. Nico was about to object that he could do them himself but E.J. intercepted him.

“No, no I’ll do them. Your friends are outside waiting for you. Go join them, it’s been nearly an hour, your lift should be here any minute.” E.J. said waving him away.

“Oh. Okay.” Nico said hesitantly and started to head outside. He nearly ran into Toby.

“Oh good there you are, there are things coming! Good things, come on Reyna says they’re friends!” Toby said grabbing Nico’s wrist and dragging him outside. He pointed up into the sky to where Nico could see a flock of… birds coming closer very quickly.

“Oh Pegasi.” Nico realized. “Good that will work.”


	18. Back to Camp

They had a interesting trip to camp Half Blood during which Nico was reminded of how much he hated flying. He ended up in Toby’s arms really quickly. Toby seemed to love the flying but he held Nico and let him bury his face in Toby’s shirt. The wind whipped away Nico’s mumbled noise, which he kept quiet enough not to bother anyone else. 

Nico was annoyed when he found that they couldn’t land directly at camp because of siege weapons. They circled back until Toby spotted a boat and suggested they could land there. Nico still wasn’t looking down but even though he wasn’t, he reached his consciousness down to the ship feeling for souls there. He found only two humans inside the ship. Reaching into the depths of his little remaining power, he seized the thread of Hypnosis --power there from his relation to the god of sleep-- and used it to send dreams to the humans. The last thing they needed was to be interrupted by startled humans, plausibly with guns, this was America again after all. 

When they were on deck Nico kept clinging to Toby, the boat wasn’t much better than the air. He still wasn’t on the ground, he was still at the mercy of a god who was not his father, and probably wanted him dead. He watch silently as Reyna had her moment with the king of horses with coach Hedge as a translator. Toby watched as well, his eyes were wide and amazed, even he must have heard stories about Pegasi. When the Pegasi left Reyna came back to the task at hand.

“Nico we should check the ship. If there’s anyone aboard-“

“Way ahead of you.” Nico cut in before she could get into her stride. He reached out to pet Blackjack, but withdrew his hand when Blackjack snorted nervously. Of course Nico smelt like death even more than usual now. “I sense two mortals asleep in the main cabin. Nobody else. I’m no child of Hypnos but I sent them some deep dreams. It’ll keep them asleep until after sunrise.” Everyone stared at him in shock for a minute.

“You keep casually revealing powers I had no idea you had.” Toby murmured to Nico. “Is there no end to what you can do?” He said in a way Nico recognized to be flirty. Nico laughed and cuddled a little closer to Toby.

“We’ll see. But right now lets focus on getting off this boat. I hate being off land, both Poseidon and Zeus want me dead, I’m not safe anywhere but my father's domain of earth.”

“Ya!” Coach Hedge said enthusiastically “And my wife is waiting!”

“The legion has sent a welcoming committee.” Reyna broke in staring intently out into the water. Nico followed her gaze and spotted a motorboat speeding towards them with the SPQR logo.

“I thought the Romans didn’t have a navy?” Nico said. At his side Toby gave a soft snarl towards the ship which Nico ignored.

We didn’t.” Reyna said coldly. “Apparently Octavian has been busier than I realized.” Now it was Nico’s turn to snarl slightly, Octavian’s name was starting to leave a bad taste in his mouth.

“So we attack! Cause nobody’s standing in my way when I’m this close." Coach Hedge said. For once Nico agreed with him and he could tell Toby did too.

“We’ll try to parlay.” Reyna said which annoyed Nico a little, but he let it go. “That’s one of Octavian’s right hand men, but he’s a good legionnaire. I may be able to reason with him.

The wind blew Nico’s hair into his face but he let it stay there, it hid his annoyed expression. He was more eager for a fight than he’d like to admit. The darkness still inside him twisted violently, making him want to lash out. “But if you’re wrong…” Nico stated blandly. Reyna didn’t answer, and the people pulled up. Nico grabbed Toby’s hand to stop him from attacking too soon.

“Reyna! I’ve got orders to arrest you and confiscate that statue. I’m coming adored with two other centurions.”

Nico didn’t pay attention to the rest of what he said. It would be the usual macho ‘don’t make me hurt you’ bull. He just paid attention to Reyna telling them to be ready to fight if she was wrong. As if they weren’t already, Toby had his celestial bronze hatchet in one hand, and Nico drew his sword. Nico only half paid attention to the back and forth between Reyna and the other Roman. He glanced up at Toby and noticed his eyes had sort of glazed over as well, he didn’t understand or care. His attention was caught though when the Roman demigod said that Octavian was trying to heal the gods.

“You’d wipe out half of the demigods in the world, half of the gods’ legacy, to HEAL them? You’ll tear apart Olympus before Gaia even wakes up. And she is waking.” Nico said horrified.

“Ambassador of Pluto, son of Hades… whatever you call yourself, you’ve been named an enemy spy. I’ve been ordered to take you in for execution.” The big demigod said.

“You can try.” Nico and Toby said in sync. Toby’s eyes had unglazed now and he was glowering fiercely at… what had Reyna said his name was? Michael? Michael looked uncomfortable.

“Um, Reyna… just come with us peacefully please? We can work this out.” He said pleadingly.

“Alright, enough talk.” Coach Hedge butted in. “Let me take this joker down. I’ve handled bigger.” Toby snarled in agreement and Nico completely believed it. 

“Kahale! What’s taking so long?” An all too familiar voice yelled from somewhere. Nico turned towards it automatically and raised his weapon a little.

“Octavian?” Michael yelped flinching a little.

“Is he like the proxies?” Toby asked Nico softly. Nico blinked, he hadn’t thought about it but yes. Maybe in Toby’s world Michael would be considered Octavian's proxy. Nico nodded slightly, Toby relaxed just a little some of his rage ebbing. Now he understood why Michael was threatening them and it wasn’t necessarily because he wanted to. 

Nico jumped when a big person came barreling onto the deck followed by a feathery human. Toby lunged forward but Nico pulled him back recognizing the two monsters almost immediately.

“Strong.” Ella cheeped proudly running her fingers through her feathers smugly. “Ella’s boyfriend is stronger than Romans.”

“Friends!” Tyson boomed scooping Reyna and Nico up in a hug. Nico half laughed when he saw how confused Toby looked. “We have come to save you! Hooray for us!”

“It’s good to see you Tyson! Ella!” Nico greeted “Great timing.” Nico said letting Reyna talk Tyson down from hurting the Romans. He didn’t quite believe there story about planning to change sides but it didn’t matter too much to him. Nico was amused when they mentioned the other ‘allies’ Octavian had called in.

“A little late for doubts. You’re surrounded. As soon as Camp Half-Blood is destroyed, those allies will turn on you.” Nico mocked laughing coldly. Nico half listened to the rest of the conversation doing his best to only pick up on the important things. The living could be so tiresome.

“I’ve got to get over there!” Coach said when Ella spouted some facts about pregnancy.

“Coach we’ll get you to your wife.” Reyna soothed. “But let’s do it right. Tyson how did you and Ella get here?”

“Rainbow!” Tyson exclaimed.

“A hippocampus.” Nico explained quickly which didn’t clear anything up to Toby, but did for Reyna and Hedge. Toby was getting used to being constantly confused by the look of it. They decided that Tyson and Ella should escort Coach back to camp.

“Nico I need you to go with Dakota and Leila. While they’re stirring up trouble in the ranks, trying to delay the attack, you find a way to sabotage those onagers.” 

“My pleasure.” Nico said grinning wolfishly. “We’ll buy you time to deliver the Athena Parthenos.”

“What’s a onager?” Toby asked Nico softly.

“It’s like a catapult.” Nico answered him. Reyna faced Nico again after a brief talk with the other Romans. There was a brief uncertainty in her eyes and then she reached her hand out to Nico.

“It’s been a honor questing with you, son of Hades.” Nico gripped her hand firmly.

“You’re the most courageous demigod I’ve even met, Reyna. I won’t let you down. See you on Half-Blood hill.” He stepped back next to Toby. “Will you stay with Reyna please? I don’t want to leave her to do this alone.” Toby looked like he was about to object, so Nico hissed quickly. “I’ll probably need to shadow travel between the ongar to get them all and at this point I’m to weak to take anyone else with me. I might be able to if you had anymore strength to give, but if you give me anymore you won’t be able to fight and we need you to fight. You know that.”

“Okay.” Toby sighed. “Looks like I’m coming with you.” He said grinning at Reyna. “You’d better meet us.” He said to Nico and was about to lean in to kiss Nico, before his eyes flicked to the strangers who were watching and he hugged Nico instead. Nico appreciated that a lot.

Nico was glad when they got to the shore, he quickly summoned Jules to drive them. He relished the scream that triggered from the Roman boy when Jules crawled out of the ground. Nico may not love pain and death, but he really did love scaring people sometimes. He got in the driver's side and they took off towards camp. Nico had been furious with Octavian but the farther they got into the roman camp the angrier he became. Octavian had surrounded them all with monsters. Nico thought bitterly that he was calling on his own kind.

Then it was time for him to separate from the new Roman allies and destroy the onager. He thought he could do it. He had had help from Toby on the way and some time to rest. He had taken Toby’s energy again before they started flying. With the lives of the two mortals that had been given to him by the creeps along the way he should have enough.

He spotted the first of the catapult like weapons and stepped into the shadows. He felt the dead and shadows pulling at him but he ignored them. He was staying mostly in the shadows so he wouldn’t be seen by romans. The shadows tried to make their way inside him and he batted them away before he got to work on the catapult. If only he could draw the life out of the wood and make it brittle and breakable but that wasn’t how his power worked. Human life was very different than plant life.

But then again he could remember times he had taken plant life. His mind flashed back to Cupid, the entire field around him had gone brown and died. When he had had his fit after the first few shadow jumps too. Brown, dead, but most importantly brittle. That wasn’t necessarily his powers, it was the darkness, his own and the stuff he pulled from the shadow whelmed when he went through it. He had plenty of darkness in him just then.

Mostly rage at Octavian. His rage increased a hundredfold when he realized what was waiting to be loaded into the catapults. A mix of explosives and imperial gold. Imperial gold in it’s raw form and in that amount was incredibly volatile and just as deadly to demigods as to monsters. It would only take one of these to hit camp Halfblood and nothing would survive.

Nico growled deep in his throat, his anger summoned the darkness to him again and this time he invited it in. Placing his hand on the onagerand pulled the mist tighter around him as he channeled the darkness through himself and let it pour into the wood. By the time he drew his hand a way the wood was brittle and dry. He grinned savagely, whoever tried to pull that back to fire it would get shot through with wood splinters like shrapnel when it broke.

He let the darkness take him back in and fought free of it next to the next onager in the line, repeating the process. He glanced up at the sky as he did. The horizon was starting to grey, he didn’t have much time. He worked his way though most of the onagers. On the last one though he was interrupted. He forgot to shield himself with the mist quite as affectively as he had before.

“Who’s there?” Someone yelled and Nico cursed himself silently hoping that the darkness he put into the wood was enough as he stepped back into the shadows before he could get caught. He ended up back on Half Blood hill. Nearly collapsing from exhaustion he hugged Thalia’s tree, noting absently that the golden fleece had been moved. Nico spotted Octavians tent and glared at it, licking his cracked lips slightly, he hissed through his teeth. If he could make one more jump into Octavian’s tent and kill him now…

“Nico.” Someone exclaimed and Nico turned quickly drawing his sword and nearly decapitating… Will Solace? “Put that down! What are you doing here?”

“Me?! What are you doing here? Getting yourself killed.” Nico hissed, resisting the urge to laugh at how Will had painted his face black but apparently forgot about his bright gold hair which practically glowed in the dark. “You forgot your hair.” Will blushed.

“Lou Ellen warped the mist around us.” Will said gesturing to the girl next to him.

“Hi.” She said waving. “You’re Nico right, the son of Hades? I’ve heard about you. This is Cecil from Hermes Cabin.”

“Yes I am.” Nico said kneeling down next to them and nodding to Cecil. “How’s the coach and Mellie?”

“They’re fine, and so’s their kid.” Will reported shuddering slightly. “I helped deliver the healthy little satyr boy and my hands are still shaking! Feel.” He grabbed Nico’s hand and Nico retracted his quickly. He tried his best to ignore what just happened and looked back at Octavian’s tent.

“What are you thinking about?” Lou Ellen asked.

“That’s Octavians tent. If I could just shadow jump there I could-“

“Oh no!” Will interrupted Nico. “Coach Hedge told me the state you’ve been in from all your shadow jumping. No more underworld things.”

“I just did it like eight times to sabotage the onager.” Nico snapped impatiently. “I can do it once more.”

“No you can’t.” Will argued “You’ve pushed way past your limits. You’re pail, your fuzzy around the edges, and you look more dead than half of the corpses I’ve seen. No more underworld magic. If you got rid of the onagers, more than ever we can take the Romans.” That reminded Nico of something.

“Oh my gods that’s right and I called in some of my own allies. We have to get back to camp immediately I need to be there when they arrive and I need to find Toby. He’s the link, I shouldn’t have told him to stay with Reyna.” Obviously none of this was making sense to the other demigods. Nico ran his hands through his hair. “Shit.” He swore. If only the phone BEN had helped him to shield hadn’t practically dissolved in the air of Tartarus. Then he took a deep breath.

“No it’s okay.” He reassured himself, not really talking to the others. “While he’s with Reyna he’ll default to her for instructions and she’ll tell him to keep the others away until after the civil conflict is resolved. It’s fine.” They were all staring at him he sighed. “The allies I’ve called in look like monsters but they aren’t. I’m just worried that if they arrive before me and the members of the quest are there to explain the demigods will attack them.”

“Oh.” Will said obviously not understanding.

“Don’t worry about it.” Nico said waving it away and turning to Lou Ellen. “You can manipulate the mist?” She nodded. “The last onager, the one farthest away from us? I didn’t manage to finish sabotaging that one because it got to bright for me to blend in. Do you think you could bend the mist around us and get me down there unseen so I can finish the job?”

The mist worked fairly well, though they were spotted once and it ended in a fight. Will distracted some, and Lou Ellen turned three into pigs which impressed Nico. Nico ended up fighting six on one to save Wills stupid ass which had made himself the center of attention. While no one was around who wasn’t incapacitated, Lou Ellen wrapped the mist around them tightly again and they made it to the last onager. 

Now the Romans were expecting a fight. Nico summoned five skeletons to give them one without realizing how weak he was. He was annoyed more than anything when Will had to catch him. 

“I told you no Underworld magic.” Will said rummaging in his pocket and pulling out a package of something. “Here eat one of these, it’s medicine it’ll keep you up a bit longer. You will not be doing that again.”

“I’ll do what I have to.” Nico said taking the medication from Will and standing up straight again. It tasted terrible but he could feel it waking him up.

“Fine then death boy, if you want to get yourself killed-“

“Do not call me death boy, my title is the Ghost King.” Nico snapped.

“Umm guys?” Lou Ellen broke in and Nico looked up to spot Octavian and his cohort approaching them. Nico’s mouth twisted into a snarl as he saw Octavian. He had to resist the urge to run forward and stab him right then and there. The soldiers near Octavian weren’t humans, their heads were like dogs, Nico’s nose wrinkled in disgust.

“Tear them apart.” Octavian ordered. Nico was trying to decide what to do when Will acted first, giving a piercing whistle that made all of the dogs cower. Nico felt triumphant when Octavian said they would watch their camp be destroyed. Nico had wanted to see them try to fire the onager anyway. He kept his face unreadable as the Romans hurried forward and loaded the catapults.

Nico was irritated when Octavian came closer to them while his Romans worked. Nico didn’t want to be distracted by this disgusting worm. He was like a maggot and Nico had seen plenty of those to know.

“Tell me, son of Pluto, why are you helping the Greeks? What have they ever done for you?” Octavian asked.

“I’m helping both Greeks and Romans.” Nico answered promptly without taking his eyes off the onager.

“Don’t try to con me. What have they offered you? A place in their camp? They won’t honor their agreement.”

“I don’t want a place in their camp.” Nico responded blandly. “After this war is over I’m leaving both camps.” 

“Why would you do that?” Will asked, Nico ignored him.

“Di Angelo I can beat any offer the Greeks could make.” Octavian wheedled, making Nico feel sick. “I always thought you would make a powerful ally. I see the ruthlessness in you, and I appreciate that-“ Nico was looking at Octavian now.

“You know nothing of my ruthlessness.” Nico said coldly. “But you will.”

“Very well then.” Octavian said trying to hide how much Nico had unsettled him. “Then we will destroy the Greeks!” That seemed to be the signal the Romans had been waiting for and they pulled back the onager.

“Cover your eyes.” Nico hissed at the others, but he didn’t. He wanted to see. Just as he knew they would, as they were bent the necks of the onager exploded into splinters. Roman’s screamed as sharp pieces of wood pierced their skin. Nico did his diplomatic best not to laugh even though he wanted to. But he was happy to realize that only one person had died, that could have been a worse.

“NO NO NO.” Octavian screamed. “We have back up onager somewhere get them!” But just then one of Reyna’s romans arrived, trailing the fifth cohort.

“Octavian we have new orders.” Dakota (Nico remembered his name now) barked. The fifth cohort falling into two lines behind him. Romans and there organization.

“From who!?” Octavian squawked.

“Reyna. She has ordered us to stand down.” Dakota stated and Nico grinned. Well done Reyna.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me so long, I haven't been feeling well.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bit of backstory here I've been reading a lot of like complicated literature for school and I was loving this literary technique of trying to make the reader feel the emotions of war by writing in a way that's kind of confusing and scary. So sorry this is a weird chapter I wanted to play with that and after all this fic is something I do for fun. :P

“Well done Reyna.” Nico murmured to himself spotting the statue being carried towards camp and grinning. Just then Toby lunged over the hill, diving down and skidding to a halt next to Nico.

“Progress report: the seven are back and they’re talking to the Greeks, Reyna is bringing the statue and the greeks have been warned about the creeps. The creeps are on standby to be called in as soon as your peace is affirmed.” Toby recited promptly to Nico. Nico grinned, those were Reyna or Annabeth's words not Toby’s, he was just passing them on.

“Excellent thank you for passing the message along Toby.” Nico said and Toby nodded smiling in satisfaction, then stepped a little nearer to stand just behind Nico.

“It’s a trick.” Octavian shrilled bringing all of their attention back to him. “The Greeks are trying to make us let our guard down.”

“Is that Octavian?” Toby hissed to Nico under squabbling amongst the Romans now under Reyna again and the ones still answering to Octavian. Nico nodded without taking his eyes off Octavian. “I’ll secure him for you, whenever you think it’s time.” Nico nodded again.

“This is no trick Octavian. The rightful leader of the Roman legions has returned. The true punishment for your betrayal is death but if you step down immediately and stop trying to cling to power that was never meant for you, Reyna and the rest of the Roman council may choose to go easy on you.” Nico said coldly. Octavian turned bright red.

“Apollo has granted me a vision of the future!” Octavian yelled, his voice breaking and his face almost purple. “The Romans shall be victories!”

“The Romans and Greeks shall claim victory together or the world will be lost.” Nico stated dully. “Gaea is waking, she has risen. We must bond together to defeat her.”

“Besides you’re no son of Apollo.” Will cut in. Nico didn’t look at him and he noticed by the lack of movement out of the corner of his eye that neither did Toby. Both of their attention was fixed only on Octavian. There had been a stir of nervous murmuring through the Romans at Nico’s claim. They fell silent and everything was still for a moment. Then all hell broke loose.

A wave rolled through the earth and screaming broke out deeper in the Roman camp. The monsters Octavian had been inviting as ‘reinforcements’ were turning on them. The Romans turned to aid their brethren against the monsters in their midst. When the Greeks came charging over the hill their help was not rebuffed.

All the while Octavian was screaming orders that no one was following anymore, as if by sheer wishful thinking he could tame the disaster he had made. Nico glanced at Toby out of the corner of his eye and jerked his head ever so slightly toward Octavian. Toby reacted immediately, even though he was Nico’s boyfriend he was still trained for situations like this. Even implied, nonverbal commands were obeyed. Toby grabbed Octavian’s arms before Octavian had a chance to know what was happening and twisted them behind his back, making him yelp.

“Octavian, former prophet of the Roman legion, your sentence for subverting the will of your commander and breaking the law of your society, is death. As a child of the underworld I claim the responsibility of dealing it’s justice.” Nico half chanted advancing on Octavian. He didn’t bother drawing his sword.

“What are you doing!?” Octavian yelped indignantly but he was afraid, Nico could tell. “What do you want son of Pluto? I can help you.”

“Pathetic.” Nico spat in disgust covering Octavian’s mouth with one hand. “You do not deserve the life the gods gave you. Return it.” He ordered, feeling for the life within Octavian, and with his next breath ripped the life out. Octavian gave one more shuddering gasp as he went limp and Nico stepped away. Toby pushed the body away from himself, wrinkling his nose in disgust and stepped closer to Nico who was holding the small ball of light that was Octavian's life in his hands.

“Look at it Toby.” Nico chuckled staring in awe down at the ball that was almost grey, nothing even close to the gold a pure soul was meant to be. “His soul is even more corrupt than yours.” Nico purred almost reverently. Toby chuckled placing his hands on Nico’s shoulder from behind.

“Take it.” Toby urged. “It’s his fault that you had to drain yourself traveling across the fucking planet. It only seems fair that he give you his energy to replace what he made you use.”

Nico flashed Toby a grin over his shoulder and, ignoring Will and his friends who were now looking at Nico in alarm, Nico slipped the ball of concentrated energy into his own mouth. He shivered happily as the new life coursed through his veins. He tilted his head back and slowly exhaled the corruption from Octavian’s energy, watching the snakelike tendrils of black mist dissipate back into the realm of shadows where they belonged.

“Better?” Toby asked softly.

“Much better.” Nico agreed sighing and giggling a little when a few last bits of darkness rushed out with his breath.

“Good, because it looks like there’s a good fight going on there.” Toby said grinning towards the battle. “and I’d like to be in it.”

“Be careful.” Nico chuckled and Toby dove away towards the fight.

“What was that?” Will asked Nico looking a little shell-shocked.

“Culture clash.” Nico said smiling reassuringly at him. “Don’t worry you’ll get used to it, but now is not the time. Just then Percy came dodging by with Jason. Jason was barking commands at the Romans and as far as Nico could tell Percy was basically just screaming like the happy barbarian he was. Nico laughed, he spotted the giants advancing on camp with more monsters and headed that way whooping when he realized the creeps had been called in now too.

“ _What a pleasure to see you Ghost King!_ ” Seed Eater greeted, loping over to him and giving his hair a few cursory licks. “ _You’ve fed, well done._ ”

“Thank you Seed Eater, it’s good to see you too. Yes I have fed.” Nico confirmed, knowing what she meant immediately.

“ _If the energy of your monsters is compatible with us we shall feast today._ ” Seed Eater pointed out, her purring hum increasing in volume, indicating her pleasure and excitement. “Shall we try?” She asked crouching down a little and offering her back to him, they could fight together better that way.

“Yes, why not?” Nico laughed swinging himself as gracefully as he could into Seed Eaters back, holding on as she raced towards the thick of the battle. They passed Jane and Jeff fighting back to back as mirror images of each other, Slenderman using his tentacles to rip a monster limb from limb. There was Smile Dog and Mrs. O’Leary and a few other dog creatures Nico didn’t recognize. Sally was fighting hand in hand with another young ghost, a black and white boy with bleeding eyes.

Their enthusiasm was infectious and with adrenalin and foreign life coursing through Nico, he felt like he was functioning at least three times his normal rate. By the time he and Seed Eater settled on a foe he could have been seen as manic, but so were most of the other demigods and almost all of the creeps.

Things became a flurry of movement and bodies, some of them he fought with, some of them against. Now and then it was hard to know who to attack because some demigods had sided with Gaia, and of course, most of the creeps looked like monsters. The creeps seemed to have mostly managed to find themselves celestial bronze or imperial gold weapons, probably from the dead.

Some fought with their hands like Kagekao, who Nico fought side by side with briefly. Nico was impressed more than anything as he watched Kagekao impale a monster with his claws and use his grip to literally tear it apart.

“Nice!” Nico laughed as the monster shrieked in pain and turned to dust.

It turned out that Nico could take energy from monsters but after the first one he didn’t want to anymore. They had so much more energy than humans, and it was so much more warped and corrupted than anything Nico had tried to consume. Seed Eater had to defend him briefly while his body tried to reject the energy. Seed eater could filter the energy it seemed, but Nico knew he couldn’t take in much of that before he became it. Nevertheless when his body stopped trying to reject the energy and he had managed to separate and exhale some of the darkness, he felt stronger.

“I’ll be okay now.” He reassured Seed Eater, and went back to fighting. With the new power he was able to summon a few dead to help him. Possibly because of the darkness in the energy he was using, the dead he summoned were harder to control, but his will was stronger than a few of the gods, and the dead would not break free from him. Nico’s stupid Hawaiian shirt was gaining a new pattern as it was splattered with blood and the gold dust left by the monsters, he liked this pattern much better.

Percy and Jason were organizing the Greeks and the Romans but he ignored them. He had played roles in both but he was neither, he fought with the creeps. With Sally, BEN, Slenderman, Seed Eater, Jane, a blond girl wearing a white dress he didn’t know but who seemed to know his actions before he did and too many others to keep track of.

He was aware vaguely that his father was somewhere in this fight helping defeat the giants, but he didn’t try to seek his father out. There was only one person he really wanted to fight with and finally he spotted Toby again. It was not easy to make his way back over to Toby. Why had they let themselves be separated in the first place? But Nico dodged through and finally made it to Toby’s side.

Toby grinned widely when he saw Nico and gave a quick half bow, inviting him to dance. Nico laughed loudly and accepted. This was the best way he had found to learn Toby’s movements. They found a rhythm, moving in perfect sync with each other back-to-back or side-by-side. They cut down whatever enemies faced them until the only one who dared to was one of the giants.

Nico knew they couldn’t kill this giant alone but he wasn’t worried. He knew his father was here somewhere, watching and waiting. Nico also knew his father wouldn’t wait long, other gods had waited until their children had proved that they were worthy or some such nonsense, but Hades already knew Nico was worthy. Nico had first taken the titles of Ghost King and Prince of the Underworld, but after that it was Hades who had gifted them to Nico and trusted him with the responsibilities that came with those titles. Sure enough roughly ten minutes into the fight as Toby was thrown back and landed cat like on his feet next to Nico, Nico felt a familiar power behind him.

“Father.” Nico greeted smiling wryly and not turning around. Hades rested his hand lightly on Nico’s shoulder.

“I’m getting tired of this war. Let us end it as quickly as we can.” Hades proposed in a conversational tone.

“Sounds good to me.” Nico agreed and gave Toby a warning glance. Toby seemed to understand and took a step back. The giant needed to be defeated by a god and their child working together. Nico didn’t even know if it would work if Toby interfered. It didn’t matter, the battle was starting to wind down but there were still plenty of other enemies that Toby could occupy himself with. The giant looked scared but it couldn’t run, so it fought. It managed to give Nico a nasty cut across his chest but that was all before Nico and Hades reduced it to an overly large pile of mud.

Then the fight was over. Nico blinked in surprise when he looked up and around and there was no one there ready to attack him. There were a few pockets of fighting going on still, but the remaining monsters had fled. Now the children of Apollo were checking wounded and seeing to the worst of them. He could see Hoody had already volunteered himself to help with that and E.J. had broken away from the fighting to see to any creeps capable of being injured. When Nico looked he was giving Masky stitches on his arm but Masky didn’t look badly hurt. Nico had to grab Toby before he could run off towards one of the pockets of fighting.

“They’re fine. You’ve done enough. Let me check if anything hurt you.” Toby made a complaining noise but he fell back and let Nico check him for injuries. Nico found a shallow one on his chest, and a deeper one on his leg, but neither of them were overly bad. There were many people who were hurt worse. He would make sure Toby got them looked at when the children of Apollo and other demigods with a knack for healing weren’t rushing around trying to help people who were near death.

“I’m going to have to stay here for a few days.” Nico stated dully eyes wondering over the battlefield.

“What! Why?” Toby squawked unhappily.

“Look at the dead. As a child of Hades their funerals are my jurisdiction. If I wasn’t here Chiron could do them but since I am here it would be irresponsible of me to allow anyone else to do them since I’m the only one who can do them truly properly.”

“Be irresponsible for once.” Toby pleaded reaching for Nico’s hand and then remembering Nico didn’t want anyone to know, letting his hand fall back to his side twitching unhappily.

“You know I can’t.” Nico said smiling ruefully at Toby. Toby fidgeted briefly and then hugged Nico tightly, that could pass as a friendly gesture.

“I’ll never get used to your conscience.” Toby muttered affectionately and then let go again. ”I’m not leaving you again though.”

“Don’t worry you won’t have to.” Nico promised hugging back. “My father knows you, you can stay in my cabin with you, he doesn’t like you, but he won’t object.”

“Slenderman’s planning to offer some of our help to rebuild too if you need it.” Toby said pulling away from Nico and stepping back clasping his hands behind his back awkwardly.

“That will be nice.” Nico agreed. “Even though most of the things in our camp are magically protected it hasn’t exactly gone unscathed.” Suddenly he groaned. “Oh I’m going to have to completely redecorate the Hades cabin too! I first helped build it when I was twelve I think. It’s awful, I think the bunks are legitimately shaped like coffins which is just a bad stylistic decision.” Nico said rubbing his temples and smiling dryly when Toby stifled a laugh. “Oh go ahead and judge twelve year old me, I’m judging him too.” Nico chuckled. “Just don’t blame me for his bad choices, I’m not that person anymore.”

“It doesn’t sound so bad to me.” Toby pointed out smiling crookedly. “A lot of creeps decorate like that.”

“Ya well I’m going to change it.” Nico said. “Now I’m going to go find the dying and do that ‘reading them their last rights’ thing.”

“I’ll go see what I can do to help.” Toby agreed and trotted off to find someone who could give him a job.

It was hours when they met up again, all of the injured had been moved to tents and now all of the dead were being grieved. Nico would prepare them for burial tonight. It would be easier if he could animate some of them to help with the rest, but he couldn’t do that until everyone else was in bed. Or more so he could, but it would alarm and disturb some of them , and Nico didn’t want to do that. Toby had helped move everyone and had had his cuts sewn up. Now he was on a forced break because he had almost definitely over worked himself.

They sat in the shade of a tree with Sally, Seed Eater, and a couple creeps Nico didn’t know. Sally braided chunks of Nico’s hair and chattered to a quiet friend of hers. It was a boy who seemed to be entirely black and white besides splashes of blood from where his arms seemed to have been cut off and some that flowed from his eyes. He seemed to be paying wrapped attention to Sally even though he didn’t contribute much to the conversation.

Finally everyone retreated to his or her sleeping or work places. The Harpies wouldn’t be enforcing curfews for the next few days while urgent care needed to be given, but habits died hard, and it had been a long day. Most of the creeps had found places to wander off to as well. Nico made sure Toby was asleep before he slipped out of the Hades cabin to prepare the dead for the burials that would start the next day.

It took Nico until roughly three in the morning to get all of the bodies properly dressed in their burial clothes which had been set out by their friends. All the cabins with skill in weaving were working through the night as well, making flags that the dead could be buried in. When all the bodies were ready, Nico wandered back towards his cabin but he was so exhausted that he couldn’t keep his eyes open as he walked. He ran straight into something nearly falling over.

Seed eater wrapped her front legs around Nico and fell backwards pulling him with her so he was laying against the soft fur of her underbelly.

“ _Will you ever stop working yourself so hard?_ ” She asked him. “ _The war is over._ ”

“I’ll stop working so much when so much work stops being required of me.” Nico mumbled tiredly.

“ _Never then?_ ” Seed Eater asked humorously.

“Maybe.” Nico agreed chuckling hoarsely.

“ _Let’s get you back under your roof with your love._ ” Seed Eater coaxed prodding Nico back to his feet and letting him lean on her as she led the way back to the Cabin. She clawed at the door rather than go in and Toby answered it quickly, taking over responsibility for the half asleep Nico. Toby took off Nico’s shoes, belt, and jacket and tucked him into bed as gently as he could and with as few jars from twitching as possible.

The next morning when people came to wake Nico up early Toby chased them away. “He was up until past three am working for you. Let him sleep until at least eleven, he told me your funeral things don’t start til evening anyway.” Toby snapped quietly. “If no one else can do it it can be done later.” Toby wouldn’t be drawn away from Nico’s cabin either because he assumed, and rightly so, that is he wasn’t there to deter them someone would come in and wake Nico up pretty darn quickly.

“I really do need to talk to him.” Jason said softly his voice slightly husky. Toby was about to insist that Jason couldn’t again but before he could Nico spoke from behind him.

“It’s alright I’m awake anyway. Another flashback woke me up.” Nico said stepping out of the Cabin still in his bare feet. “What’s the matter Jason?”

Jason opened his mouth answer but his breath seemed to catch in his throat. He took a deep shaky breath and nearly sobbed.

“Leo’s dead.” He choked out finally. Both Nico and Toby blinked in surprised. “He killed himself helping destroy Gaia. He created fire hot enough to turn her earth body to glass but it was hot enough to burn him up as well. We can’t find anything at all.

Nico froze up. He knew what to do about death, but when it came to the livings response to death he was clueless. He hadn’t really known Leo, hadn’t really cared about or liked Leo, but Hazel had.

“Where’s Hazel?” Nico asked softly. “She must be devastated.”

“She’s with Frank.” Jason said nodding. “But you’re right she is. We couldn’t have won the war without Leo.”

“He had the potion to cure death you people stole didn’t he?” Nico asked suddenly looking sharply.

“We didn’t steal it.” Jason protested and Nico rolled his eyes.

“Fine, tricked the gods into giving to you. I didn’t feel Leo’s soul crossover. There were a lot of people dying so I might have missed it, but I usually a pick up on ones that are familiar to me.”

“I don’t know.” Jason said but there was a little hope in his eyes. “but… it’s possible! I’ll go tell Hazel!” he said and dashed off. Nico turned around and walked back inside. Toby followed him and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Nico, wrapping his arms around Nico’s shoulders now that they were alone.

“So much death.” Nico sighed unhappily. “I guess we won, but is there any actual good news?”

“Miss O’Leary and Smile Dog had puppies.” Toby answered promptly smiling at Nico when he looked up startled. “Yep, five of them all beautiful and healthy you can meet them today.”

“That is good news.” Nico said smiling softly and kissing Toby gently just because he could.


	20. quick authors note

This story and all of my others will be temporarily on hold because I am helping run a fan trials of Habit and it is taking up all of my creative energy. If you want to join go to http://habitsfantrials.tumblr.com/ fill out a application and submit it to us. Applications close the 10th of this month. I'm sorry about this but I want to expand my creativity into other mediums and I just can't keep up with both, I've been trying and it just doesn't work


	21. Wonderful Potential

It took weeks before Nico managed to finish all the funerals and Toby never left him the entire time. He would find ways to make himself useful elsewhere during the funerals because he hadn’t known the people being buried, but after they were over he was back at Nico’s side. Nico came out to the rest of his friends at camp and his sister because they would have started realizing soon anyway. Nico and Toby were not very good at resisting affection.

Some of the other creeps stuck around too. Hoody and E.J. had bonded with almost everyone in the Apollo cabin. E.J. and Will had started trying to figure out how medicating for mental disorders could work with demigods. It wasn’t uncommon for demigods to get ptsd and now with the two wars over, it was more important than ever to find a way to at least control the symptoms.

To Nico’s surprise Clovis was involved in that too. He thought that with his help they might be able to refine the waters of the Lithe so that it would repress bad memories. Nico wasn’t sure he would take that even if they managed it. He had had enough experience with the river Lithe. Besides, even though little bits of his past were starting to come back to him he didn’t have that many memories to loose and most of them were bad. If his bad memories were gone he wasn’t really sure what he’d be left with. Ccertainly not the person he was now.

Still it was good to see the demigods and the creeps bonding. Jeff and a few others were getting along well with the Ares/Mars children, Bloody Painter and Clockwork were having art sessions with the children of the muses with only conventional material. Well for the most part. Clockwork and Bloody painter were experimenting with making a paint with the dust monsters left behind. Nico had seen some of their attempts so far and it was beautiful. Shimmering gold and yellow, and it tended to shift ever so slightly making the painting seem even more alive. The problem was the dust tended to escape it’s binding eventually to find it’s way back to tarturus and reform.

Slenderman, Splenderman, and surprisingly Kagekao were helping the most with rebuilding the camp itself. Kagekao was smaller than the other two but almost as physically strong. He could scamper up buildings carrying large wooden beams and hold them in place while they were secured. With them the rebuilding was getting done much faster than it was otherwise. Besides since Slenderman was the leader of the Creeps his help was going a long way to sow peace between the camps and the Creepypastas.

Chiron still seemed a little uncertain of them because in a way it was demigods responsibility to protect humans. However Slenderman pointed out that it was the demigods responsibility to protect humans from things within their own mythos. As the creeps were from a different mythos it was not the demigods responsibility to defend humans against them. Chiron said that that was lawyer logic, but he had excepted it, no one was ready for another war and everyone had seen how powerful the creeps were during the last war. Better to have them as allies. 

Nico was half annoyed by how many people he had trying to look after him now. He was so used to being ignored but now Masky, Hoody, and Reyna had all sort of adopted him. Sally had to in a different way, Jason, E.J. and Hazel where always checking up on him and then there was Toby. He was practically dotting on Nico now that they were open about their relationship. Nico found it a little funny almost.

“Honestly Toby, I’m not going anywhere again anytime soon.” Nico assured Toby one night. Nico was very glad his father was allowing Toby to sleep in the Hades cabin with him. Even Hades must have known that without Toby there Nico wouldn’t get any sleep because of his nightmares. “I’m going to be okay, you don’t have to fuss so much.”

“I know I don’t have to.” Toby said kissing Nico’s jaw gently. It was the middle of the night, Nico had woken up from a nightmare quietly. He didn’t think he would wake Toby but Toby must have been either sleeping lightly or already awake. “But I want to, and I still almost can’t believe you’re back. I thought you were dead. While you were bringing that stupid statue back here I thought you were going to die again. I guess I feel like I have to show the rest of the universe how glad I am you didn’t.”

“There are too many ways to die for a demigod.” Nico sighed turning over to kiss Toby gently. “Too many causes to die for, there’s no telling how long I’ll make it.”

“I probably won’t live long either, I’m already older than average for people with C.I.P.A.” Toby pointed out softly. “Just live as long as I do, please.”

“I’ll try.” Nico promised and Toby wrapped his arms around Nico’s waist, Nico stroked Toby’s jaw gently and they kissed again, long and sweet. They fell asleep again slowly. The next morning it was back to preforming rituals.

“Don’t say you won’t go away again though.” Toby said softly stroking Nico’s hair. “We both know you will eventually, you’ll be called again to serve your gods and you can’t say no to them anymore then I can say no to Slenderman. “

“You’re right.” Nico admitted with a small sigh gently tracing the line of Toby’s pulse because he liked to feel the life in him. “But usually they give us a while before the next quest and with any luck it won’t involve me. As far as I’m concerned I’ve done enough for the gods, considering they’ve never done much of anything for me.” There was a rumble of thunder above them and Nico glared at the sky. “You know if you’re always watching of course you’re going to see and hear some things you don’t want to.” He snapped up at the ceiling and Zeus. 

“I understand, just come back as soon as you can. And you’ll check in with me now won’t you? I know you can’t use phones but you have your own ways of communicating right? And now that you don’t have to keep me a secret from the demigods..?” Toby trailed off looking at Nico hopefully.

“Yes now I’ll be able to contact you.” Nico promised smiling softly. “I’ll check in with you as often as I can while I’m away next time.” Toby smiled widely, obviously very reassured by the promise and then settled back down into bed more comfortably. 

Once the rebuilding was done most of the creeps that had stuck around left again, the only ones who stayed were Toby and E.J.. Others promised to come back and visit their new friends at camp halfblood and the Roman legion. Nico was mostly done with the funerals now but Will and the other healers were still loosing the fight with a few campers and there were new deaths. It was annoying him to no end because it meant that most of the time he was idle, but he couldn’t just go home yet.

Three weeks after arriving back at camp half blood everyone who was going to die was finally dead and buried, and Nico could go home. Hazel, Jason, and Reyna were sad to see Nico go and tried to convince him to stay. But a lot of the demigods were back to being uncomfortable around Nico so it was no big loss to leave camp. He didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable after all and the creeps liked having him around. He promised he would go back and visit his friends though.

The first day he was back Slenderman and E.J. made sure no one swarmed him so that he could make himself comfortable again and readjust to life with the creeps. He and BEN finally got a chance to play with the oculus rift BEN had ordered before Nico had to leave for Tartarus. Playing that game Nico was glad, for the second time that his father had pulled him out of time and dumped him here, even though BEN used it to scare him.

Mostly his day was quiet, Jeff only tried to kill him once for scaring them all before Slenderman sent him away again. Nico practiced fighting with the proxies and went for a walk in the woods with Toby. They visited the lake where they had first kissed. Though it was getting into fall now and it wasn’t warm enough to go swimming. Toby wanted to anyway because he wouldn’t be bothered by the cold but Nico stopped him because he didn’t want Toby getting sick. Toby didn’t argue, he might have if it was Masky telling him not tom but as it wasn't he just held Nico’s hand.

They sat on the banks and Nico watched the leaves fall onto the surface of the water and drift away contentedly. Toby got bored and started braiding Nico’s hair teasing him gently about being like a grandparent.

“I’m starting to think I should keep letting it grow out.” Nico said smiling slightly as his eyes followed a orange leave drifting on the water. “You and Sal love braiding it so much. 

“It’s up to you.” Toby said shrugging. “I do like it longer though, you look really good when you put it in a ponytail.”

“I’ll let it grow.” Nico agreed. “I have no patience with haircuts and Sally seems happy enough to brush it for me.” He joked and Toby laughed.

“I am too though. You seem to like it.” Toby pointed out.

“I do, it’s relaxing.” Nico agreed. Toby nodded and kept braiding Nico’s hair. Toby must have done his sisters hair sometimes because Nico could feel that Toby had practice. Nico thought if he sat still enough Toby would tame all of Nico’s hair into small braids. Nico planned to stay still long enough for him to do that. Toby seemed to have done the hyper focus thing that adhd caused sometimes so he would be willing to stay still that long to for once.

Nico watched the leaves fall, autumn was a time of death and it made Nico feel at home. But for once Nico wasn’t thinking about that. He was thinking about time. How sometimes time seemed to move so slowly and other times so quickly. If felt like forever since he had met the creeps and Toby but he hoped it would only be a fraction of the time he would spend with Toby. It must have been over a year since he and Toby had gotten together because they had gotten together in mid summer and now it was the next fall.

They had been so distracted they hadn’t noticed. No, Nico corrected himself, Toby had probably noticed but he had known Nico was busy so he hadn’t brought it up. Nico felt guilty about that but also grateful. Toby understood that Nico had responsibilities, his heritage was a job to do. Toby did too, they could respect each others responsibilities and also stand to not tell each other things.

How odd it was that part of their relationship would always be keeping a few secrets. Nico didn’t want to know about Toby’s jobs and Toby knew Nico couldn’t tell him about everything that he did. It was the business of the gods something that Toby could understand as a human proxy among beings like the creeps. They would live a double life but both of them were used to that, the most important life would be the one they spent together, that’s what mattered. The other parts were just necessary and unwelcome distractions from each other.

There were still a few things Nico worried about, but he tried to put those aside and be happy. He was only fitting in better and better here, practicing fighting with the proxies and Jeff, playing games with L.J., Sally and Ben. Now that they all knew he was alive and had gotten used to the idea again things had calmed down and settled back into a routine. He was glad of that, he didn’t like being fussed over though he couldn’t seem to stop E.J., Toby, and to a lesser extent Slender from fussing over his diet and trying to make him gain some weight back. 

Nico had done started doing his part to help the creeps as well . E.J. wouldn’t let him transport people by shadow travel yet but he could make bodies dispose of themselves which was a useful trick when living with killers. He didn’t do it often because he didn’t want to be involved and most of the time the creeps wanted to show off their handy work but he did it occasionally. He liked feeling useful, he was looking forward to when he could transport people again it would be handy, particularly with the proxies who didn’t actually have powers, to be able to yank them out of harms way.

He had told Toby’s mother he would protect him after all and he intended too. Thinking of that he realized he had some other questions for Toby.

“Have you been in contact with your mother again?” Nico asked softly so as not to break Toby’s concentration on the braids. Toby made a humming noise and took longer than usual to process what Nico had said but Nico waited patiently.

“Ya I have.” Toby agreed distractedly, “ Actually I called her when I thought you’d died she helped me a lot. We should probably tell her you’re alive too, she’ll be relieved.”

“Ya.” Nico agreed easily lapsing back into silence while Toby did four more braids. “I forgot our year anniversary didn’t I?”

“It’s alright you were really busy.” Toby promised and Nico sighed.

“I’m still sorry that was a important thing. We should do something for it belatedly, even if it’s just going out for dinner the two of us. It’s sort of hard to get alone time around here so it would be nice to spend a bit of time with just us.”

“You’re right the would be nice.” Toby agreed and Nico glanced up in time to catch his smile. “And relaxing, let’s not do anything big though, there’s been enough excitement. Maybe once it get’s closer to Halloween we should find some haunted houses to go to.”

“But those are always so hokey and bad.” Nico groaned, “None of them are actually scary.”

“I know that’s what makes them fun to laugh at.” Toby agreed easily and Nico shrugged because he couldn’t argue with that so he didn’t. He half dozed off against Toby, relaxed by the feeling of the hands in his hair. Besides now that he wasn’t constantly running on adrenalin he was finding recovering exhausted him and he was sleeping more than usual. Only when Toby was near him of course because when Nico was on his own he didn’t care sleep for fear of his nightmares. “Sal is just going to undo these next time she wants to do your hair.”

“You’re right.” Nico chuckled reaching up to touch the braids Toby had already done. “But you’re almost done so you might as well finish right?”

“Right.” Toby agreed but first he leaned over and kissed Nico gently. “I wish I had the power to bring you life.” Toby rumbled suddenly. “Like Seed Eater did that one time? You don’t want to kill and I respect that but I kill anyway and their life energy is just going to waste isn’t it? I wish I could bring it back to you somehow. Then you’d never start to fade like that again would you?”

“That really freaked you out didn’t it?” Nico asked softly feeling just a little guilty.

“Of course it did! You were disappearing right in front of me, literally fading away. I’ve never… I’ve never seen anything like that before and there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t protect you from that and I only had my energy to give and you wouldn’t take anymore.”

“If I’d taken anymore you wouldn’t have been able to defend me. The way we did things was the best way we could.” Nico assured him softly. Toby gave a frustrated sigh.

“I know it was but if I could bring you other life somehow it would have been better.” Toby said. “You get along well with Seed Eater don’t you? We should go see her again some time soon maybe we can find a way I can bring you the life of the people I kill.” Toby saw Nico’s doubt and intercepted it. “I know you don’t want anyone to die for you but if they’re dying anyway why not?”

“Okay we’ll go see Seed Eater. You’re right I like her a lot.” Nico agreed because he couldn’t think of a way to object to that. “I don’t want to get addicted to it like my brother did but I do seem to need a little bit. I think it’s like caffeine and as long as I’m careful it’ll be okay.”

“Good.” Toby said and he sounded genuinely relieved which in turn made Nico feel a bit better about his choice. “Besides you’ll probably end up using that energy for the benefit of your gods and humanity so even if there’s a little bad karma or whatever from benefiting from a murder it’ll be outweighed by what you do with it right?”

“Ya you’re probably right.” Nico agreed, relaxing again as Toby finished braiding his hair.

“We should head back. It must be almost dinner time.” Toby pointed out once he was finished and finally came out of his hyper focused state. Nico frowned a little at the prospect because he wasn’t looking forward to having E.J. fussing over him and making sure Nico ate exactly as much as he was supposed to. At the same time he knew that E.J. was trying to do what was best for him and as a doctor E.J. was actually in a position to know what that was so Nico put up with it.

“Alright.” He agreed unenthusiastically making Toby chuckle. Toby got uo first and helped Nico to his feet after him.

They walked back towards the house together, hand in hand. They had coe a long way then the first time they had walked through these woods together from that pond for the first time. There had been many walks since then, through the forest on the way for Nico to face the Operator, through fire, ashes and shadows. Toby and Nico had been through the worst of times together and now it certainly seemed like they deserved some of the best.

Nico shifted closer to Toby, this love was so much different, better then any others he’d had. His friends here too, they liked him for who he was bad and good and they wouldn’t turn away when the darkness came out. Toby had proved that they would only like him more for it.

For the first time he had not just a home but a secure one. This wasn’t a home he would lose when he came out as gay, or when his powers got to strong to be comfortable for the living. He had a home today and he would for all his conservable tomorrows. He found himself smiling at that thought, it was so foreign to him but he liked it. Loved it.

“Toby?” Nico said and Toby made a small questioning sound. “Thank you for everything. I love you.” Toby stopped walking and pulled Nico into his arms.

“I have just as much reason to thank you. And I love you too Nico, so fucking much.” Toby answered. Nico smiled and stood on his toes to kiss Toby again because he couldn’t get enough of this sweet boy he loved and who loved him back.


	22. Authors Note

This story is basicly over but I have made a ask blogs for all the characters involved. If you want to know anything else you want to know about anyone at all come along and ask. :) cats-ask-blog.tumblr.com


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